|
"Therapeutic Cloning": Where Do We Go From Here?
This meeting was held on October 8-9, 2007 at the Beckman Center, Irvine, CA. Organized by Douglas C. Wallace, Susan V. Bryant, and Peter J. Donovan of the University of California, Irvine, this meeting featured many prominent researchers and leaders in the field of somatic cell nuclear transfer and stem cell research.
Meeting Overview
Cell therapies based on the use of pluripotent human embryonic stem cells promise to revolutionize the practice of medicine. Specialized cells derived from human embryonic stem cells could be used to treat a wide variety of human diseases and disorders. But the existing human embryonic stem cell lines are only compatible with a sub-set of the human population. This raises the important problem that transplanted cells would be rejected or that treated individuals would need to be immuno-suppressed for the rest of their lives. In an ideal world, human stem cell lines would be developed that were compatible with each individual. Theoretically this could be achieved through the process of nuclear reprogramming in which a nucleus from an individual is reprogrammed in the cytoplasm of an egg. The subsequent cells that develop from the re-programmed nucleus could then be used to create patient-specific human embryonic stem cell lines that would avoid the important problem of rejection. While the process of nuclear reprogramming works in some species, so far in humans it has not.
This meeting addressed some of the critical issues in this field, including the sources of eggs for nuclear reprogramming, the ethical problems associated with egg donation, alternative sources of eggs, improved methods for nuclear reprogramming, problems associated with mixing of mitochondria, alternative methods for creating pluripotent stem cells and problems with stem cells that can occur through improper methods of culture of the embryo or the resultant stem cell lines. Ultimately, development of methods for successful nuclear reprogramming in humans could revolutionize methods for practicing medicine as well as improving our understanding of the maintenance of the differentiated state.
Click on presentation title to watch the slideshow.
Session I: Where are we now?
Opening Remarks, Susan V. Bryant (University of California, Irvine)
Cultural and religious differences in attitudes towards therapeutic cloning and egg donation, Anne Drapkin Lyerly, M.D. (Duke University School of Medicine)
Cross-cultural considerations of cloning using human eggs, Alison Murdoch (Newcastle Fertility Centre at LIFE)
Learning from the Korean experience, Mildred Cho (Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics)
Lessons from Dolly, Ian Wilmut (University of Edinburgh)
Session II: Applications of Therapeutic Cloning
Improvement of the efficiency of somatic cell nuclear transfer, Teruhiko Wakayama (RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology)
Deciphering disease progression using nuclear transfer and stem cells, Kevin Eggan (Harvard University)
Histocompatible embryonic stem cells, George Daley (Children's Hospital Boston)
Different nuclei-different expression, Mahendra Rao (Invitrogen Corp)
Keynote Lecture: Fundamentals of cloning, John Gurdon (University of Cambridge)
Session III: De-differentiation and Differentiation
Spindle-associated proteins, Gerald P. Schatten (University of Pittsburg)
Induction of pluripotency by defined factors, Kiichiro Tomoda (The Gladstone Institute, University of California, San Francisco)
Reprogramming somatic stem cells into pluripotent stem cells, Kathrin Plath (University of California, Los Angeles)
Germ cells from stem cells, Renee Reijo Pera (Stanford University)
Session IV: Challenges and Solutions
Culture and genetic modification of germline stem (GS) cells, Takashi Shinohara (University of Kyoto)
Mitochondrial DNA variation in stem cell biology and disease, Douglas Wallace (University of California, Irvine)
Imprinting in stem cells, Roger Pedersen (University of Cambridge)
Closing remarks, Peter Donovan (University of California, Irvine
|
