The embryonic stem cell research is likely to be free from the ethical controversy soon– such claim some researchers from the University of California, San Diego.

The researchers from the Research Ethics Program have claimed to have developed the technique of creating the artificial stem cell to behave like the embryonic stem cell. They have made a combination of four genes and a handful of chemicals unloaded into adult human skin cells to induce, or reprogram them to look and act like embryonic stem cells.

Thus the technique is expected to put an end to the moral and ethical debate over the use of embryonic stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells, and adult stem cells that can be induced to behave like them, are believed to be able to morph into any cell in the human body, such as the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas or the beating cells of the heart muscle. In theory, scientists could transform embryonic stem cells into healthy pancreas cells that could cure Type I diabetes by allowing doctors to replace a patient’s malfunctioning cells that give rise to the disease.

The San Diego researchers are trying to develop the alternatives to natural embryonic stem cells, such as using stem cells derived from unfertilized human egg cells. Along with easing ethical concerns, the artificial cells wouldn’t be as hard to come by as real embryonic cells, which have to be obtained from embryos left over from in vitro fertilization procedures and slated for disposal. The process usually requires the informed consent of the parents and is extremely expensive because the government has allowed only very limited federal funding for the work, leaving researchers reliant on hard-to-come-by venture capitalist or philanthropic funds. Also, because the artificial cells are exact genetic copies of the skin cells, in theory, the reprogramming technique would allow tissue made from the cells to be transplanted into a person to replace cells damaged by disease without fear of rejection.

Hopefully, the research is likely to get support from various organizations. For example, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will distribute $3 billion in stem cell research grants over the next decade. In a statement, the spokesman from the organization, said the agency will continue to fund research using cells created by many different methods, including reprogramming adult stem cells and the growing of natural embryonic stem cells in labs.

Bioethicists agreed that all avenues of research should be pursued, but said it’s important that people scrutinize the process and ask the crucial questions when ethical and moral evaluations become necessary. There needs to be a balance between the concerns of medical science and the eagerness of terminally ill patients to get new treatments as soon as possible.

Source: voice of San Diego