Leading the way for stem cell research

The UK has been a pioneer of stem cell research (SCR) since the 1980s, when researchers led by Sir Martin Evans at Cambridge University first isolated mouse embryonic stem cells.

Since then, the UK has achieved a reputation as a leading centre in SCR. This is thanks to its progressive regulatory framework, supportive public and private sector funding environment and its academic excellence.

Today the UK undertakes research with adult and embryonic stem cells and is one of the few countries to allow therapeutic cloning. As part of its drive to leaders the field, the UK established the world’s first Stem Cell Bank - a single, national independent Institute responsible for the supply of well characterised cell lines derived from adult, foetal and embryonic tissues.

The Bank is a unique and excellent concept

Dr Lyle Armstrong

Newcastle University

This resource is available internationally to all those involved in SCR who donate their cells to the Bank. .“The Bank is a unique and excellent concept,” according to Dr Lyle Armstrong at Newcastle University.“ It simplifies donation to other scientific groups and enables us to share learning. This helps fast track research and prevents duplicative work.” To date Newcastle University has contributed nine stem cell lines to the Bank.

Framework for SCR excellence

Dr Armstrong believes that the ‘relatively liberal legal environment’ is the cornerstone of the UK’s leadership in SCR. He also cites the UK’s longstanding involvement in SCR as key to success. “The UK has had around 20 years to build a degree of critical mass and today stem cell research is undertaken across the UK, with pre-eminent centres including those at Kings College, Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester and in Newcastle and Durham Universities in the UK. The quality of British science, which is known for its rigour and quality, is second to none.”

The ‘relatively liberal legal environment’ is the cornerstone of the UK’s leadership in SCR

Newcastle University has gained much publicity for its hybrid embryo research, where the aim is to introduce a human cell nucleus into a denucleated bovine egg. By examining the way in which such ‘cloned’ embryos develop, Dr Armstrong’s team hopes to understand the process by which certain genes of the introduced human nucleus are reprogrammed to allow them to control development of the new embryo. However, it has much broader interests in SCR and its endeavours demonstrate the potential of work in the UK. Aside from the hybrid work, Dr Armstrong’s team is focused on creating induced pluripotency stem cells by returning differentiated somatic cells (e.g. skin cells) to their pluripotent state. “Effectively by using both this approach and hybrid cloning we are trying to turn the clock back to time zero for any cell type. This means that we are trying to de-programme a cell so that it regains the ability to differentiate into any cell type,” he explains.

“So far several other groups around the world have managed to achieve this using retroviruses so our next step is to remove the viruses from the stem cells once they have been deprogrammed. Then we need to identify the factors that control which genes are turned off and those which are expressed, known as epigenetics, to allow controlled differentiation. If we can achieve this, it will obviate the need for embryonic stem cells which are in chronically short supply,” he concludes.

A significant milestone

Other projects underway at Newcastle University include work by Professor Karim Nayernia’s team who are evaluating germ cells (in this case sperm) as potential sources of stem cells and Professor Josef Vormoor who is leading the drive to understand the workings of leukaemic stem cells. Dr James Shaw’s team aims to generate new insulin-secreting beta cells from human adult pancreatic stem cells in the search for better diabetes therapies and Professor Colin McGuckin’s work centres on harvesting and culturing embryonic stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

The UK is the best environment in the world to do this research

Dr Stephen Minger

Director of the Stem Cell Biology Laboratory

Kings College London

Hybrid work in Newcastle and London Universities was licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). In May MPs backed the use of human-animal hybrid embryos in research. An amendment to the human fertilisation and embryology bill, which would have banned the creation of ‘human admixed embryos’ for medical research, was defeated in the House of Commons by a majority of 160. It will allow the scientific community to forge ahead on all fronts in its attempts to understand and develop therapies for a huge range of currently incurable diseases. Dr Stephen Minger, Director of the Stem Cell Biology Laboratory at Kings College London, is strongly supportive of the UK as a centre for SCR, saying “The UK is the best environment in the world to do this research. Government commitment, its determination to listen to scientists and patient groups and consider even controversial areas of science is second to none.” The UK is now a step closer to developing cutting-edge treatments.