Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: An Amazing Breakthrough in the Stem Cell Debate
- Jan 14, 2008
In the past few months, three research teams have published reports outlining their successes in transforming adult skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, the functional equivalent of embryonic stem cells. These biotechnological breakthroughs have the potential to make a significant and positive impact on the state of the stem cell debate in America, as it could end the ethical dilemma regarding embryonic stem cells. With the present successes of several multipotent, non-embryonic stem cells in combating illness and the recent achievements of transforming skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, it is now time to end the debate about using embryonic stem cells. Stem cell funding should be targeted toward proven techniques (non-embryonic stem cells such as umbilical cord blood, placentas, and fat and bone marrow) and those techniques without ethical dilemmas (the new skin cell transformation techniques).
Stem cells are routinely classified into two categories, multipotent stem cells and pluripotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells have the ability to form many of the body’s cell types, but not all of them. Pluripotent stem cells, however, have the ability to develop into all types of the body’s cells. Because of this unique flexibility, pluripotent stem cells have been the target of researchers and many in the scientific community, but, until now, pluripotent stem cells have had a serious ethical drawback—they were only able to be harvested from human embryos, which resulted in the destruction of human life. This has led many Christian groups and others concerned about the sanctity of human life to oppose this type of research in favor of the limited but morally positive alternative of multipotent stem cells. Yet, recent discoveries of induced pluripotent stem cells from adult skin cells provide the opportunity to realize the possible medical breakthroughs that pluripotent stem cells are capable of without having to be concerned about destroying nascent human life.
In November 2007 a research group in Japan and another in Wisconsin published results in Cell of scientific processes which successfully reprogrammed skin cells into stem cells that have functionally similar properties of embryonic stem cells, primarily that they are pluripotent and can develop into any cell type in the human body. These cells, when injected into mice, formed heart, muscle, and bone tissue. However, these results published in the Cell article identified one potential problem: the reprogrammed stem cells had a tendency to transform into cancerous cells. This problem appears to have been short-lived, though, because on November 30, 2007 Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, the leader of the Japanese research groups, published results in Nature Biotechnology declaring that he was able to reproduce the stem cell creation process and eliminate the cancerous tendency by eliminating one of the four genes originally used. In the first process, six of the thirty-six mice injected with the cells died of tumors within 100 days, but in the second process, no mice died.
In a December 23, 2007 article in Nature, scientists at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital in Boston also reported that they were able to transform skin cells into the functional equivalent of embryonic stem cells. Unlike the research done in Japan and Wisconsin, the research at Harvard was conducted from natural skin cells from a human volunteer, not skin cells grown in a lab, providing further evidence that there is great promise in the skin cell reprogramming process.
Induced pluripotent stem cells, such as the stem cells created by these three research groups, provide an outstanding opportunity for modern science. While the positive results of this process are in the early stages of research, it appears to be feasible to achieve the positive results of pluripotent stem cells without destroying human life. This process, if continued to be proven successful, would be a clear victory for science, human life, and Christian advocacy. This process should eliminate embryonic stem cell research in favor of a functionally equivalent process without the ethical dilemmas. This result would allow pro-life Christians to hold both the moral and scientific high ground, as inducing pluripotent stem cells should provide all the advantages of embryonic stem cells without destroying human life.
The breakthrough of inducing skin cells into pluripotent stem cells is an answer to prayer of pro-life advocates, who have long desired an ethical medical solution to combat debilitating diseases and illnesses in society. However, Christians cannot be content with the mere success of identifying a process to create pluripotent stem cells from non-embryonic processes. Many in the scientific and political communities will undoubtedly continue to argue that embryonic stem cell research should continue until there is further evidence of the success of induced pluripotent stem cells and because there has already been much time, effort, and capital invested in the embryonic stem cell process. Thus, Christians should continue to stand up for innocent life, taking a strong stand against all forms of embryo-destructive stem cell research.
Human life is an amazing gift from God, and, as His creation, we must respect and honor this gift by seeking to protect innocent life, being good stewards of this gift, and operating in humble submission to the Creator. Therefore, Christians should continue to oppose all forms of embryo-destructive stem cell research, support current non-embryonic stem cell research, and begin advocating for more resources to be allocated to the research of induced pluripotent stem cells. The war against embryo-destructive stem cell research has not concluded with these recent discoveries, but they provide great hope for a scientific solution that provides both protection of innocent life and life-saving medical technologies.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Life, Stem-Cell Research, Science, Bioethics