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Another News Article just out:

Thursday, September 21 2006 11:41 AM, EST

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Stem cells treat eye problem in rat tests: EMBRYONIC MATERIAL PRODUCES PIGMENT [San Jose Mercury News, Calif.]

Knight Ridder/Tribune "Business News "

Sep. 21--Advanced Cell Technology of Alameda, which stirred a national fuss in August when it claimed to have found a way to make stem-cell lines without destroying embryos, now says it has used human embryonic stem cells to treat eye disorders in rats.

It could be two years or more, however, before the company knows whether this finding could help people with impaired sight.

Aided by University of Utah scientists, the company used the stem cells to generate retinal pigment cells that help promote sight, according to a study being published in the fall issue of Cloning and Stem Cells.

When visually impaired rats were injected with the pigment, the study said, the animals had 100 percent improvement in visual performance compared with rats not given the pigment.

"There was clearly very significant rescue of vision in the animals," said Dr. Robert Lanza, Advanced Cell Technology's vice president of research and scientific development.

He added that the results bolster the firm's previously stated intent to seek permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration next year to use stem cells to treat people with macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in those older than 55 years.

The study drew praise from Thomas Reh, director of neurobiology and behavior at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, who is studying the use of stem cells to correct eye disorders in mice.

"This validates the use of human embryonic stem cells for treatment of macular degeneration," Reh said, adding he wouldn't be surprised if Advanced Cell Technology wins approval to test stem-cell therapies on people with that disease within two years.

Ian Wilmut, the journal's editor who became famous in 1996 for cloning Dolly the sheep, also voiced enthusiasm.

"These observations are very exciting," he said in a news release issued by the journal, adding that the results "emphasize the great potential benefit of research with human embryo stem cells."

Other researchers have experimented with stem cells to alleviate eye disorders in animals and, in some cases, people. Most such studies have used adult stem cells, which are destined to develop into specific types of body tissue. But human embryonic stem cells, which can become any tissue type, have greater medical potential, according to Lanza.

Embryonic stem cells reproduce indefinitely, he noted, which means they could provide an unlimited supply of retinal pigment cells. Dozens of different embryonic stem-cells lines could be grown, he said, each tailored to be accepted by the immune systems of different population groups.

"We're excited about it," said Stephen Rose, chief research officer for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, a charitable organization that helped finance the study.

Researchers typically obtain human stem cells from embryos due to be discarded by fertility clinics, and many people oppose studies involving such cells because embryos are destroyed in the process. That's why Advanced Cell Technology aroused international interest in August when it claimed to have devised a method for growing human stem cells without destroying embryos.

The company said it produced a stem-cell line from a single cell taken from an early-stage embryo. Fertility clinics often remove single cells from embryos for genetic screening without harming the embryo's ability to become a fetus.

But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and some members of Congress have faulted the company for not making it clearer that embryos used for the study were destroyed.

Contact Steve Johnson at [e-mail] or [phone].


Copyright (c) 2006, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.
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