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Hybrid Embryo Bill Brings U.K. to Forefront of Stem-Cell Research
21 May 08
The use of hybrid embryos for medical research is on the brink of being passed into U.K. law, which could significantly increase the availability of embryonic stem cells and promote the development of a number of human therapies.
Global Insight Perspective | | Significance | The United Kingdom is about to legalise the use of human-animal embryos for medical research. The bill will become final once it has been approved by the House of Lords. | Implications | Researchers hope that the creation of human-animal embryos will circumvent the current shortage in embryonic stem cells. The greater availability of research material may promote therapeutic advances in areas such as neuro-degenerative disorders. | Outlook | If the Commons Chamber's decision is endorsed by the House of Lords, the United Kingdom will cement its position as a front-runner in stem-cell research. Despite recent Big Pharma interest in the stem-cell research field, investments from major players are not expected to flow in just yet. Hence, the impact on the pharmaceutical industry is likely to remain limited for the moment, but this development will certainly boost activity in the biotechnology sector. |
The U.K. parliament has endorsed the use of stem cells derived from hybrid embryos in medical research as MPs voted at a 336-to-176 majority to defeat an amendment supporting the ban of such embryo creation in the country. The decision comes as part of an update of the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill. More specifically, it allows the transfer of a human nucleus into an "emptied-out" animal egg but forbids that the hybrid embryo be allowed to develop for more than 14 days or be implanted into a human or an animal. The final bill needs to be approved by the Lords' Chamber before it is enshrined in law. If it is passed into law, it will become effective next year. Researchers hope to be able to harvest embryonic stem cells from the human-animal embryos that could potentially be used for the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases or multiple sclerosis. Embryonic stem cells are totipotent, which means that they can be prompted to differentiate into any type of tissue. At the moment, embryonic stem cells are harvested from donated human eggs. The scarcity of such donations has limited the availability of embryonic stem cells for medical research purposes, which may be circumvented by the use of hybrid embryos. In effect, an inter-species embryo will consist of human DNA inserted into a pre-prepared animal egg. The animal egg will be emptied out of its nuclear DNA but will retain its cytoplasmic mitochondrial DNA. Emptied animal eggs will then become the recipients of a human nucleus containing all 23 pairs of human chromosomes. Mitochondrial DNA represents minute amounts of the total cell's DNA content. Outlook and Implications In effect, the bill is extremely unlikely to have an immediate impact on major pharma players. Therapies resulting from embryonic stem cells are still a long way off and are not expected to reach the market for another decade. A number of factors suggest that the field will be left to the biotechnology sector to develop. First of all, there is an emotive and ethical issue surrounding the use of human-animal embryonic stem cells for the treatment of human diseases, which Big Pharma may be keen to avoid for now. Nevertheless, if the benefits are clear, these concerns are likely to die down as did the opposition to the use of insulin-producing pig cells for the treatment of diabetes. Secondly, the use of stem-cell research for medical purposes is still in its infancy and although embryonic stem cells show great therapeutic potential on paper, technical challenges lie ahead when it comes to their therapeutic use; hence the uncertainty surrounding the feasibility of developing such medicines (see World: 18 December 2007: Are Stem Cells the New Biotechnology Holy Grail?). In addition, there is also uncertainty surrounding their safety. All in all, the field may still be too risky for the big pharma players to enter, although they have recently shown some interest (see United Kingdom: 3 October 2007: GSK, AstraZeneca, Roche Sign Up to U.K. Stem-Cell Research Programme). Notably, the Stem Cells for Safer Medicines (SC4SM) initiative that some pharma majors have already invested in is a lot more regulated and only allows the use of exclusively human stem-cell lines registered in stem-cell banks. On the political front, the bill allows the United Kingdom to remain at the forefront of stem-cell research. With stem-cell research banned in some other European member-states and in the United States, the United Kingdom will position itself as an attractive destination for such investments. This comes at a time when the country is facing an exodus of pharmaceutical investments as a result of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) early renegotiations and fears of industry-adverse tax changes (see United Kingdom: 6 May 2008: Threats of Investment Exodus Loom as Adverse U.K. Governmental Policies Pile Up). Interestingly, it also comes at a time when the European Union has injected more funds into fundamental scientific research (see European Union: 2 May 2008: EU Commission Joins Efforts with Pharmaceutical Sector to Boost R&D).
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