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Journalism of Courage
Indian scientists venturing into embryonic stem cell research, on the back of the South Korean controversy over unethical therapeutic cloning and concocted data on cell lines from cloned embryos, are taking extra pre-caution to ensure validity of their data.
In the first ever government sponsored initiative to derive embryonic stem cells, at the Manipal Hospital in Bangalore, stem cell research director Dr Satish Totey and his team are seeking more frequent reviews of their work by the Indian Council of Medical Research8212;the regulatory authority for stem cell research in the country. Under a DBT sponsored project, Totey8217;s team is set to derive stem cell lines from spillover embryos provided by an artificial reproductive treatment clinic located at the hospital.
Stem cells are considered the basic cells from which complex tissues and organs are created and is seen as natural fixes for damaged human tissues and organs in the future of medicine. Cell lines derived from a parent stem cell mass can be coerced under lab conditions to differentiate in specific tissues of the human body like heart muscles, pancreatic islet cells etc. While stem cells can be derived even from adults, embryonic stem cells or cells from embryos that are four to five days old are considered to have the potential to differentiate into the largest spectrum of tissues and organs. Among embryonic stem cells, those cells derived from embryo clones of individuals are projected as offering the least rejection potential in the body.
In India, while the law allows therapeutic cloning8212;on a case by case basis8212;to facilitate embryonic stem cell science, researchers working in the area have so far shown interest only in deriving stem cells from spare embryos coming out of infertility treatment. The Totey-led group at the Manipal hospital, a second group headed by Dr Mitradas Panickar at the National Centre for Biological Sciences at Bangalore, and a third group at Reliance Life Sciences, Mumbai, are currently at the forefront of embryonic stem cell research in India. The NCBS group and the Reliance group formerly headed by Totey have successfully derived embryonic stem cells and cell lines and incidentally figured in US President George Bush8217;s 2001 list of world laboratories from where US researchers could source embryonic stem cell lines for research.
The Manipal group is working currently on imported embryonic stem cell lines but hopes to derive cell lines under the DBT research by the year-end. Its work is directed at finding possible application in the treatment of diabetes and Parkinson8217;s, the Reliance group is also seeking to find clinical application in the treatment of heart disease and mental disorders. NCBS has been largely focused on understanding development biology through its stem cell work.
According to Panickar, the DBT-ICMR guidelines regulate the group8217;s research. 8216;8216;Cloning or the generation of embryos for the purpose of research is not allowed,8217;8217; he says. Adds Totey: 8216;8216;Not too much thinking is going into cloning among stem cell researchers in India. Cloning is a waste of time and resources. It8217;s tricky and least efficient.8217;8217;
The ICMR and DBT are hoping to showcase India8217;s sound stem cell research regulation and practices to enable research tie-ups with the United States. DBT secretary Raj Bhan and ICMR director general N K Ganguly held talks late last year with officials of the US National Institute of Health on stem cell research areas that can be jointly explored by Indo-US researchers and collaborations are expected soon.
