One of my favorite phrases is “standing room only”. I got a chance to use it last week when we held a panel discussion on whether regenerative medicine could turn back the clock on aging. The event was at the annual conference of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and more than 150 people packed into a conference room to hear the debate (so far more than 800 also watched a live stream of the event.)
It’s not surprising the place was jammed. The speakers included:
Dr. Deepak Srivastava, the President of the Gladstone Institutes, an expert on heart disease and the former President of ISSCR.
Dr. Stanley “Tom” Carmichael, Chair of the Department of Neurology at UCLA and an expert on strokes and other forms of brain injury.
Adrienne Shapiro, the mother of a daughter with sickle cell disease, a tireless patient advocate and supporter of regenerative medicine research, and the co-founder of Axis Advocacy, a family support organization for people with sickle cell.
And the topic is a timely one. It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of the people who die every day, die from diseases of aging such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. So, what can be done to change that, to not just slow down or stop these diseases, but to turn back the clock, to repair the damage already done and replace cells and tissues already destroyed.
The conversation was enlightening, hopeful and encouraging, but also cautionary.
You can watch the whole event on our Youtube channel.
It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of people in industrialized countries who die every day, die from diseases of aging such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Of those still alive the numbers aren’t much more reassuring. More than 80 percent of people over the age of 65 have a chronic medical condition, while 68 percent have two or more.
Current medications can help keep some of those conditions, such as high blood pressure, under control but regenerative medicine wants to do a lot more than that. We want to turn back the clock and restore function to damaged organs and tissues and limbs. That research is already underway and we are inviting you to a public event to hear all about that work and the promise it holds.
On June 16th from 3p – 4.30p PST we are holding a panel discussion exploring the impact of regenerative medicine on aging. We’ll hear from experts on heart disease and stroke; we will look at other ground breaking research into aging; and we’ll discuss the vital role patients and patient advocates play in helping advance this work.
The discussion is taking place in San Francisco at the annual conference of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. But you can watch it from the comfort of your own home. That’s because we are going to live stream the event.
Have you ever been at a party where someone says “hey, I’ve got a good idea” and then before you know it everyone in the room is adding to it with ideas and suggestions of their own and suddenly you find yourself with 27 pages of notes, all of them really great ideas. No, me neither. At least, not until yesterday when we held the first meeting of our Scientific Strategy Advisory Panel.
This is a group that was set up as part of Proposition 14, the ballot initiative that refunded CIRM last November (thanks again everyone who voted for that). The idea was to create a panel of world class scientists and regulatory experts to help guide and advise our Board on how to advance our mission. It’s a pretty impressive group too. You can see who is on the SSAP here.
The meeting involved some CIRM grantees talking a little about their work but mostly highlighting problems or obstacles they considered key issues for the future of the field as a whole. And that’s where the ideas and suggestions really started flowing hard and fast.
It started out innocently enough with Dr. Amander Clark of UCLA talking about some of the needs for Discovery or basic research. She advocated for a consortium approach (this quickly became a theme for many other experts) with researchers collaborating and sharing data and findings to help move the field along.
She also called for greater diversity in research, including collecting diverse cell samples at the basic research level, so that if a program advanced to later stages the findings would be relevant to a wide cross section of society rather than just a narrow group.
Dr. Clark also said that as well as supporting research into neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, there needed to be a greater emphasis on neurological conditions such as autism, bipolar disorder and other mental health problems.
(CIRM is already committed to both increasing diversity at all levels of research and expanding mental health research so this was welcome confirmation we are on the right track).
Dr. Mike McCun called for CIRM to take a leadership role in funding fetal tissue research, things the federal government can’t or won’t support, saying this could really help in developing an understanding of prenatal diseases.
Dr. Christine Mummery, President of ISSCR, advocated for support for early embryo research to deepen our understanding of early human development and also help with issues of infertility.
Then the ideas started coming really fast:
There’s a need for knowledge networks to share information in real-time not months later after results are published.
We need standardization across the field to make it easier to compare study results.
We need automation to reduce inconsistency in things like feeding and growing cells, manufacturing cells etc.
Equitable access to CRISPR gene-editing treatments, particularly for underserved communities and for rare diseases where big pharmaceutical companies are less likely to invest the money needed to develop a treatment.
Do a better job of developing combination therapies – involving stem cells and more traditional medications.
One idea that seemed to generate a lot of enthusiasm – perhaps as much due to the name that Patrik Brundin of the Van Andel Institute gave it – was the creation of a CIRM Hotel California, a place where researchers could go to learn new techniques, to share ideas, to collaborate and maybe take a nice cold drink by the pool (OK, I just made that last bit up to see if you were paying attention).
The meeting was remarkable not just for the flood of ideas, but also for its sense of collegiality. Peter Marks, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (FDA-CBER) captured that sense perfectly when he said the point of everyone working together, collaborating, sharing information and data, is to get these projects over the finish line. The more we work together, the more we will succeed.
A search on Google using the term “stem cell blogs” quickly produces a host of sites offering treatments for everything from ankle, hip and knee problems, to Parkinson’s disease and asthma. Amazingly the therapies for those very different conditions all use the same kind of cells produced in the same way. It’s like magic. Sadly, it’s magic that is less hocus pocus and more bogus bogus.
The good news is there are blogs out there (besides us, of course) that do offer good, accurate, reliable information about stem cells. The people behind them are not in this to make a quick buck selling snake oil. They are in this to educate, inform, engage and enlighten people about what stem cells can, and cannot do.
This blog has just undergone a face lift and is now as colorful and easy to read as it is informative. It bills itself as the longest running stem cell blog around. It’s run by UC Davis stem cell biologist Dr. Paul Knoepfler – full disclosure, we have funded some of Paul’s work – and it’s a constant source of amazement to me how Paul manages to run a busy research lab and post regular updates on his blog.
The power of The Niche is that it’s easy for non-science folk – like me – to read and understand without having to do a deep dive into Google search or Wikipedia. It’s well written, informative and often very witty. If you are looking for a good website to check whether some news about stem cells is real or suspect, this is a great place to start.
This site is run by another old friend of CIRM’s, Don Reed. Don has written extensively about stem cell research in general, and CIRM in particular. His motivation to do this work is clear. Don says he’s not a doctor or scientist, he’s something much simpler:
“No. I am just a father fighting for his paralyzed son, and the only way to fix him is to advance cures for everyone. Also, my mother died of breast cancer, my sister from leukemia, and I myself am a prostate cancer survivor. So, I have some very personal reasons to support the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and to want state funding for stem cell and other regenerative medicine research to continue in California!”
The power of Don’s writing is that he always tells human stories, real tales about real people. He makes everything he does accessible, memorable and often very funny. If I’m looking for ways to explain something complex and translate it into everyday English, I’ll often look at Don’s work, he knows how to talk to people about the science without having their eyes cloud over.
This is published by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the leading professional organization for stem cell scientists. You might expect a blog from such a science-focused organization to be heavy going for the ordinary person, but you’d be wrong.
A Closer Look at Stem Cells is specifically designed for people who want to learn more about stem cells but don’t have the time to get a PhD. They have sections explaining what stem cells are, what they can and can’t do, even a glossary explaining different terms used in the field (I used to think the Islets of Langerhans were small islands off the coast of Germany till I went to this site).
One of the best, and most important, parts of the site is the section on clinical trials, helping people understand what’s involved in these trials and the kinds of things you need to consider before signing up for one.
Of course, the US doesn’t have a monopoly on stem cell research and that’s reflected in the next two choices. One is the Signals Blog from our friends to the north in Canada. This is an easy-to-read site that describes itself as the “Insiders perspective on the world of stem cells and regenerative medicine.” The ‘Categories ‘dropdown menu allows you to choose what you want to read, and it gives you lots of options from the latest news to a special section for patients, even a section on ethical and legal issues.
As you may have guessed from the title this is by our chums across the pond in Europe. They lay out their mission on page one saying they want to help people make sense of stem cells:
“As a network of scientists and academics, we provide independent, expert-reviewed information and road-tested educational resources on stem cells and their impact on society. We also work with people affected by conditions, educators, regulators, media, healthcare professionals and policymakers to foster engagement and develop material that meets their needs.”
True to their word they have great information on the latest research, broken down by different types of disease, different types of stem cell etc. And like CIRM they also have some great educational resources for teachers to use in the classroom.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, one of the few bright spots is how many researchers are stepping up and trying to find new ways to tackle it, to treat it and hopefully even cure it. Unfortunately, there are also those who are simply trying to cash in on it.
In the last few years the number of predatory clinics offering so-called “stem cell therapies” for everything from Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis to autism and arthritis has exploded in the US. The products they offer have not undergone a clinical trial to show that they work; they haven’t been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA); they don’t have any evidence they are even safe. But that doesn’t stop them marketing these claims and it isn’t stopping some of them from now trying to cash in on the fears created by the coronavirus.
One company is hawking what it calls a rapid COVID-19 test, one that can determine if you have the virus in under ten minutes (many current tests take days to produce a result). All it takes is a few drops of blood and, from the comfort of your own home, you get to find out if you are positive for COVID-19. And best of all, it claims it is 99 percent accurate.
What could be the problem with that? A lot as it turns out.
If you go to the bottom of the page on the website marketing the test it basically says “this does not work and we’re not making any claims or are in any way responsible for any results it produces.” So much for 99 percent accurate.
It’s not the only example of this kind of shameless attempt to cash in on COVID-19. So it’s appropriate that this week the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), issued a statement strongly condemning these attempts and the clinics behind them.
ARM warns about the growing number of “stem cell clinics” (that) are taking advantage of the “hype” around stem cells – and, in certain cases, the current concern about COVID-19 – and avoiding regulation by falsely marketing illegal and potentially harmful products to patients seeking cures.”
These so called “therapies” or tests do more than just take money – in some cases tens of thousands of dollars – from individuals: “Public health is at risk when unscrupulous providers offer stem cell products that are unapproved, unproven and fail to adhere to established rules for good manufacturing practices. Many of these providers put patients at risk by falsely marketing the benefits of treatments, and often promoting the stem cells for conditions that are outside of their area of medical expertise.”
It’s sad that even in times when so many people are working hard to find treatments for the virus, and many are risking their lives caring for those who have the virus, that there are unscrupulous people trying to make money out of it. All we can do is be mindful, be careful and be suspicious of anything that sounds too good to be true.
There are no miracle cures. No miracle treatments. No rapid blood tests you can order in the mail. Be aware. And most importantly of all, be safe.
The CIRM Board recently held a meeting to approve $5 million in emergency funding for rapid research into potential treatments for COVID-19.
For years CIRM and others in the stem cell community (hello Paul Knoepfler) have been warning people about the dangers of going to clinics offering unproven and unapproved stem cell therapies. Recently the drum beat of people and organizations coming out in support of that stand has grown louder and louder. Mainstream media – TV and print – have run articles about these predatory clinics. And now, Google has joined those ranks, announcing it will restrict ads promoting these clinics.
“We regularly review and revise our
advertising policies. Today, we’re announcing a new Healthcare and
medicines policy to prohibit advertising for unproven or experimental
medical techniques such as most stem cell therapy, cellular (non-stem) therapy,
and gene therapy.”
The president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Dr. Deepak Srivastava quickly issued a statement of support, saying:
“Google’s new policy banning
advertising for speculative medicines is a much-needed and welcome step to curb
the marketing of unscrupulous medical products such as unproven stem cell
therapies. While stem cells have great potential to help us understand and
treat a wide range of diseases, most stem cell interventions remain
experimental and should only be offered to patients through well-regulated
clinical trials. The premature marketing and commercialization of unproven stem
cell products threatens public health, their confidence in biomedical research,
and undermines the development of legitimate new therapies.”
Speaking of Deepak – we can use first
names here because we are not only great admirers of him as a physician but also
as a researcher, which is why we have funded
some of his research – he has just published a wonderfully well written
article criticizing these predatory clinics.
The article – in Scientific
American – is titled “Don’t Believe Everything You Hear About Stem Cells”
and rather than paraphrase his prose, I think it best if you read it yourself.
So, here it is.
Enjoy.
Don’t Believe Everything You Hear about Stem Cells
The science is progressing rapidly,but bad
actors have co-opted stem cells’ hope and promise by preying on unsuspecting
patients and their families
Stem cell science is moving forward
rapidly, with potential therapies to treat intractable human diseases on the
horizon.Clinical trials are now underway to test the safety
and effectiveness of stem cell–based treatments for blindness,spinal
cord injury,heart disease,Parkinson’s
disease, and more,some with early positive results.A
sense of urgency drives the scientific community, and there is tremendous hope
to finally cure diseases that, to date, have had no treatment.
But don’t believe everything you hear about stem cells. Advertisements and pseudo news articles promote stem cell treatments for everything from Alzheimer’s disease,autism and ALS, to cerebral palsy and other diseases.The claims simply aren’t true–they’re propagated by people wanting to make money off of a desperate and unsuspecting or unknowing public.Patients and their families can be misled by deceptive marketing from unqualified physicians who often don’t have appropriate medical credentials and offer no scientific evidence of their claims.In many cases, the cells being utilized are not even true stem cells.
Advertisements for stem cell treatments are showing up everywhere, with too-good-to-be-true
claims and often a testimonial or two meant to suggest legitimacy or efficacy.Beware of the following:
• Claims that stem
cell treatments can treat a wide range of diseases using a singular stem cell
type. This is unlikely to be true.
• Claims that stem
cells taken from one area of the body can be used to treat another, unrelated
area of the body. This is also unlikely to be true.
• Patient testimonials used to validate a
particular treatment, with no scientific evidence. This is a red flag.
• Claims that
evidence doesn’t yet exist because the clinic is running a patient-funded
trial. This is a red flag; clinical trials rarely require payment for
experimental treatment.
• Claims that the
trial is listed on ClinicalTrials.gov and is therefore NIH-approved. This may
not be true. The Web site is simply a listing; not all are legitimate trials.
• The bottom line:
Does the treatment sound too good to be true? If so, it probably is. Look for
concrete evidence that the treatment works and is safe.
Hundreds of clinics offer costly, unapproved and unproven stem cell
interventions, and patients may suffer physical and financial harm as a result.A Multi-Pronged Approach to Deal with
Bad Actors
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)has
long been concerned that bad actors have co-opted the hope and promise of stem
cell science to prey on unsuspecting patients and their families.
We read with sadness and disappointment the many stories of people trying unproven therapies and being harmed, including going blind from injections into the eyes or suffering from a spinal tumor after an injection of stem cells.Patients left financially strapped, with no physical improvement in their condition and no way to reclaim their losses, are an underreported and underappreciated aspect of these treatments.
Since late 2017, the Food and Drug Administration has stepped up its
regulatory enforcement of stem cell therapies and provided a framework
for regenerative medicine products that provides guidelines for work in
this space.The agency has alerted many clinics and centers
that they are not in compliance and has pledged to bring additional enforcement
action if needed.
A Multi-Pronged Approach to Deal with Bad Actors The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has long been concerned that bad actors have co-opted the hope and promise of stem cell science to prey on unsuspecting patients and their families.
We read with sadness and disappointment the many stories of people trying
unproven therapies and being harmed, including going
blind from injections into the eyesor suffering from a spinal
tumor after an injection of stem cells.Patients left
financially strapped, with no physical improvement in their condition and no
way to reclaim their losses, are an underreported and underappreciated aspect
of these treatments.
Since late 2017, the Food and Drug Administration has stepped up its
regulatory enforcement of stem cell therapies and provided a framework
for regenerative medicine products that provides guidelines for work in
this space.The agency has alerted many clinics and centers
that they are not in compliance and has pledged to bring additional enforcement
action if needed.
In recent weeks, a federal judge granted the FDA a permanent injunction
against U.S. Stem Cell, Inc. and U.S. Stem Cell Clinic, LLC for adulterating
and misbranding its cellular products and operating outside of regulatory
authority.We hope this will send a strong message to other
clinics misleading patients with unapproved and potentially harmful cell-based
products.
The Federal Trade Commission has also helped by identifying and curtailing
unsubstantiated medical claims in advertising by several clinics. Late in 2018
the FTC won a $3.3-million judgment against two California-based clinics for
deceptive health claims.
The Federal Trade Commission has also
helped by identifying and curtailing unsubstantiated medical claims in
advertising by several clinics. Late in 2018 the FTC won a $3.3-million
judgment against two California-based clinics for deceptive health claims.
These and other actions are needed to stem the tide of clinics offering
unproved therapies and the people who manage and operate them.
Improving Public Awareness
We’re hopeful that the FDA will help improve public awareness of these
issues and curb the abuses on ClinicalTrials.gov,a government-run Web site being misused by rogue clinics looking to
legitimize their treatments. They list pay-to-participate clinical trials on
the site, often without developing, registering or administering a real
clinical trial.
The ISSCR Web site A Closer
Look at Stem Cellsincludes patient-focused information
about stem cells,with information written and vetted by stem
cell scientists.The site includes how and where to report
adverse events and false marketing claims by stem cell clinics.I
encourage you to visit and learn about what is known and unknown about stem
cells and their potential for biomedicine.The views expressed are those of the
author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
A packed house for the opening keynote address at ISSCR 2019
At first glance, a scientific conference is not the place you would think about going to learn about how to run a political or any other kind of campaign. But then the ISSCR Annual Meeting is not your average conference. And that’s why CIRM is there and has been going to these events for as long as we have been around.
For those who don’t know, ISSCR is the International Society
for Stem Cell Research. It’s the global industry representative for the field
of stem cell research. It’s where all the leading figures in the field get
together every year to chart the progress in research.
But it’s more than just the science that gets discussed. One of the panels kicking off this year’s conference was on ‘Why is it Important to Communicate with Policy Makers, the Media and the Public?” It was a wide-ranging discussion on the importance of learning the best ways for the scientific community to explain what it is they do, why they do it, and why people should care.
Sean Morrison
Sean
Morrison, a former President of ISSCR, talked about his experience
trying to pass a bill in Michigan that would enable scientists to do embryonic
stem cell research. At the time CIRM was spending millions of dollars funding
scientists in California to create new lines of embryonic stem cells; in
Michigan anyone doing the same could be sent to prison for a year. He said the
opposition ran a fear-based campaign, lying about the impact the bill would
have, that it would enable scientists to create half man-half cow creatures
(no, really) or human clones. Learning to counter those without descending to
their level was challenging, but ultimately Morrison was successful in
overcoming opposition and getting the bill passed.
Sally Temple
Sally
Temple, of the Neural Stem Cell Institute, talked about testifying
to a Congressional committee about the importance of fetal tissue research and
faced a barrage of hostile questions that misrepresented the science and
distorted her views. In contrast Republicans on the committee had invited a group
that opposed all fetal tissue research and fed them a bunch of softball
questions; the answers the group gave not only had no scientific validity, they
were just plain wrong. Fortunately, Temple says she had done a lot of
preparation (including watching two hours Congressional hearings on C-SPAN to understand how these hearings
worked) and had her answers ready. Even so she said one of the big lessons she
stressed is the need to listen to what others are saying and respond in ways
that address their fears and don’t just dismiss them.
Other presenters talked about their struggles with different
issues and different audiences but similar experiences; how do you communicate
clearly and effectively. The answer is actually pretty simple. You talk to
people in a way they understand with language they understand. Not with dense
scientific jargon. Not with reams of data. Just by telling simple stories that
illustrate what you did and who it helped or might help.
The power of ISSCR is that it can bring together a roomful
of brilliant scientists from all over the world who want to learn about these
things, who want to be better communicators. They know that much of the money
for scientific research comes from governments or state agencies, that this is
public money, and that if the public is going to continue to support this
research it needs to know how that money is being spent.
That’s a message CIRM has been promoting for years. We know
that communicating with the public is not an option, it’s a responsibility.
That’s why, at a time when the very notion of science sometimes seems to be
under attack, and the idea of public funding for that science is certainly
under threat, having meetings like this that brings researchers together and
gives them access to new tools is vital. The tools they can “get” at ISSCR are
ones they might never learn in the lab, but they are tools that might just mean
they get the money needed to do the work they want to.
Will CIRM be funding stem cell research after this year?
From even before we were created by the passage of Proposition 71 back in 2004, the voices of patients and patient advocates have been at the heart of CIRM’s existence. Today they are every bit as vital to the work we do, and even more essential if we are to be able to continue doing that work.
In 2004, the patient advocate community recognized that the research we fund could help them or a loved one battling a deadly disease or disorder. And over the last 15 years that’s exactly what we have done, trying to live up to our mission of accelerating stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. And with 54 clinical trials already under our belt we have made a good start.
But it’s just a start. We still have a lot to do. The problem is we are quickly running out of money. We expect to have enough money to fund new projects up to the end of this year. After that many great new ideas and promising projects won’t be able to apply to us for support. Some may get funding from other sources, but many won’t. We don’t want to let that happen.
That’s why we are holding a Patient Advocate event next Tuesday, June 25th from 6-7pm in Petree Hall C., at the Los Angeles Convention Center at 1201 South Figueroa Street, LA 90015.
The event is open to everyone and it’s FREE. We have created an Eventbrite page where you can get all the details and RSVP if you are coming. And if you want to get there a little early that’s fine too, we’ll be there from 5pm onwards so you’ll have a chance to ask us any questions you might have beforehand.
It’s going to be an opportunity to learn about the real progress being made in stem cell research, thanks in no small part to CIRM’s funding. We’ll hear from the researchers who are saving lives and changing lives, and from the family of one baby alive today because of that work.
We will hear about the challenges facing CIRM and the field, but also about a possible new ballot initiative for next year that could help re-fund CIRM, giving us the opportunity to continue our work.
That’s where you, the patients and patient advocates and members of the public come in. Without you we wouldn’t be here. Without you we will disappear. Without us the field of stem cell research loses a vital source of support and funding, and potentially-life saving therapies fall by the wayside.
We all have a huge stake in this. So we hope to see you next Tuesday, at the start of what may be the next chapter in the life of CIRM.
Stem cells have been in the news a lot this week, and not necessarily for the right reason.
First, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) won a big legal decision in its fight to
crack down on clinics offering bogus, unproven and unapproved stem cell
therapies.
But then came news that another big name celebrity, in this case Star Trek star William Shatner, was going to one of these clinics for an infusion of what he called “restorative cells”.
It’s a reminder that
for every step forward we take in trying to educate the public about the
dangers of clinics offering unproven therapies, we often take another step back
when a celebrity essentially endorses the idea.
So that’s why we are
taking our message directly to the people, as often as we can and wherever we
can.
In June we are going
to be holding a free, public event in Los Angeles to coincide with the opening
of the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s Annual Conference, the
biggest event on the global stem cell calendar. There’s still time to register for that by the way. The event is from 6-7pm on
Tuesday, June 25th in Petree Hall C., at the Los Angeles Convention
Center at 1201 South Figueroa Street, LA 90015.
It’s going to be an
opportunity to learn about the real progress being made in stem cell research,
thanks in no small part to CIRM’s funding. We’re honored to be joined by UCLA’s
Dr. Don Kohn, who has helped cure dozens of children born with a fatal immune
system disorder called severe combined immunodeficiency, also known as “bubble
baby disease”. And we’ll hear from the family of one of those children whose
life he helped save.
And because CIRM is
due to run out of money to fund new projects by the end of this year you’ll
also learn about the very real concerns we have about the future of stem cell
research in California and what can be done to address those concerns. It promises
to be a fascinating evening.
But that’s not all. Our
partners at USC will be holding another public event on stem cell research, on
Wednesday June 26th from 6.30p to 8pm. This one is focused on
treatments for age-related blindness. This features some of the top stem cell
scientists in the field who are making encouraging progress in not just slowing
down vision loss, but in some cases even reversing it.
We know that we face
some serious challenges in trying to educate people about the risks of going to
a clinic offering unproven therapies. But we also know we have a great story to
tell, one that shows how we are already changing lives and saving lives, and
that with the support of the people of California we’ll do even more in the
years to come.
Don Reed has been a champion of CIRM even before there was a CIRM. He’s a pioneer in pushing for funding for stem cell research and now he’s working hard to raise awareness about the difference that funding is making.
In a recent article on Daily Kos, Don highlighted one of the less celebrated partners in this research, the humble rat.
A BETTER RAT? Benefit #62 of the California Stem Cell Agency
By Don C. Reed
When I told my wife Gloria I was writing an article about rats, she had several comments, including: “Oo, ugh!” and also “That’s disgusting!”
Obviously, there are problems with rats, such as
when they chew through electrical wires, which may cause a short circuit
and burn down the house. Also, they are blamed for carrying diseased
fleas in their ears and spreading the Black Plague, which in 1340 killed
half of China and one-third of Europe—but this is not certain. The
plague may in fact have been transmitted by human-carried parasites.
But there are positive aspects to rats as well. For
instance: “…a rat paired with another that has a disability…will be
very kind to the other rat. Usually, help is offered with food,
cleaning, and general care.”—GUIDE TO THE RAT, by Ginger Cardinal.
Above all, anyone who has ever been sick owes a
debt to rats, specifically the Norway rat with that spectacular name,
rattus norvegicus domesticus, found in labs around the world.
I first realized its importance on March 1, 2002,
when I held in my hand a rat which had been paralyzed, but then
recovered the use of its limbs.
The rat’s name was Fighter, and she had been given a derivative of embryonic stem cells, which restored function to her limbs. (This was the famous stem cell therapy begun by Hans Keirstead with a Roman Reed grant, developed by Geron, and later by CIRM and Asterias, which later benefited humans.)
As I felt the tiny muscles struggling to be free,
it was like touching tomorrow— while my paralyzed son, Roman Reed, sat
in his wheelchair just a few feet away.
Was it different working with rats instead of mice? I had heard that the far smaller lab mice were more “bitey” than rats.
Wanting to know more about the possibilities of a “better rat”, I went to the CIRM website, (www.cirm.ca.gov) hunted up the “Tools and Technology III” section, and the following complicated sentence::
“Embryonic stem cell- based generation of rat models for assessing human cellular therapies.”
Hmm. With science writing, it always takes me a
couple of readings to know what they were talking about. But I
recognized some of the words, so that was a start.
“Stemcells… rat models… human therapies….”
I called up Dr. Qilong Ying, Principle Investigator (PI) of the study.
As he began to talk, I felt a “click” of recognition, as if, like pieces of a puzzle, facts were fitting together.
It reminded me of Jacques Cousteau, the great
underwater explorer, when he tried to invent a way to breathe
underwater. He had the compressed air tank, and a mouthpiece that would
release air—but it came in a rush, not normal breathing.
So he visited his friend, race car mechanic Emil
Gagnan, and told him, “I need something that will give me air, but only
when I inhale,”– and Gagnan said: “Like that?” and pointed to a metal
contraption on a nearby table.
It was something invented for cars. But by adding
it to what Cousteau already had, the Cousteau-Gagnan SCUBA (Self
Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) gear was born—and the ocean
could now be explored.
Qi-Long Ying’s contribution to science may also be a piece of the puzzle of cure…
A long-term collaboration with Dr. Austin Smith centered on an attempt to do with rats what had done with mice.
In 2007, the Nobel Prize in Medicine had been won by Dr. Martin Evans, Mario Capecchi, and Oliver Smithies. Working independently, they developed “knock-out” and “knock-in” mice, meaning to take out a gene, or put one in.
But could they do the same with rats?
“We and others worked very, very hard, and got nowhere,” said Dr. Evans.
Why was this important?
Many human diseases cannot be mimicked in the
mouse—but might be in the rat. This is for several reasons: the rat is
about ten times larger; its internal workings are closer to those of a
human; and the rat is considered several million years closer (in
evolutionary terms) to humans than the mouse.
In 2008 (“in China, that is the year of the rat,” noted Dr. Ying in our conversation) he received the first of three grants from CIRM.
“We proposed to use the classical embryonic stem
cell-based gene-targeting technology to generate rat models mimicking
human heart failure, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases…”
How did he do?
In 2010, Science Magazine honored him with
inclusion in their “Top 10 Breakthroughs for using embryonic stem
cell-based gene targeting to produce the world’s first knockout rats,
modified to lack one or more genes…”
And in 2016, he and Dr. Smith received the McEwen Award for Innovation, the highest honor bestowed by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).
Using knowledge learned from the new (and more
relevant to humans) lab rat, it may be possible to develop methods for
the expansion of stem cells directly inside the patient’s own bone
marrow. Stem cells derived in this fashion would be far less likely to
be rejected by the patient. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, they would
be “of the patient, by the patient and for the patient—and shall not
perish from the patient”—sorry!
Several of the rats generated in Ying’s lab (to mimic human diseases) were so successful that they have been donated to the Rat Research Resource center so that other scientists can use them for their study.
“Maybe in the future we will develop a cure for some diseases because of knowledge from using rat models,” said Ying. “I think it’s very possible. So we want more researchers from USC and beyond to come and use this technology.”
The Stem Cellar 