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INITIATIVES
The University Inaugurates Stem Cell Institute, Examines IssuesThe recently founded Harvard Stem Cell Institute was inaugurated on April 23 with a one-day symposium devoted to the science and social context of stem cell research. The afternoon scientific program was preceded by an introductory morning session that was deliberately broad in scope, drawing on expertise of faculty from the basic sciences, medicine, public policy, and commerce.
Codirectors Douglas Melton (right) and David Scadden (center) have asked Leonard Zon (left), HMS professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital, to be director of the executive committee of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. (Photo by Justin Ide, Harvard News Office) The brainchild of Douglas Melton, Howard Hughes investigator and the Thomas Dudley Cabot professor of natural sciences at Harvard, and David Scadden, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, the institute is being developed at a time when there is much public debate about the ethics of research on certain stem cells. Teased from human embryos produced during in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cells have the theoretical capability of generating or repairing any tissue in the body. Though this endows them with unique, life-saving properties, some people object to their isolation because the embryos must be eliminated in the process. Such concerns led to a presidential ban on the use of federal funds for research on any embryonic stem cells isolated after Aug. 9, 2001. "That the federal government has withdrawn from funding so central a scientific area imposes, I believe, a great ethical obligation on the very, very small number of institutions within our country that have the capacity to fill that gap," said University president Lawrence Summers in his opening remarks. "Filling in a gap like this is a highest and best purpose for a university like ours."
There are two main objections to embryonic stem cell research, explained Sandel. One is the "embryo" objection, stating that extracting the cells kills the embryo, which is a nascent human life. The other is the "slippery slope" objection, which argues that today it will be stem cells, tomorrow therapeutic cloning, and soon after, reproductive cloning. The slippery slope objection is relatively easy to counter, because there are ways of making the slope less slippery, said Sandel. One source of friction would be simply to ban reproductive cloning. The first argument arises when embryos are given an equal moral status to that of a fully developed human being. "It is often thought that once you get to the question of moral status, there is no rational argument," Sandel said. "You either hold one view or the other." But he argued that things may not be so black and white. Intuitively and practically, embryos are rarely regarded with the same moral and religious equivalence of a fully developed human, he reminded the audience. "Otherwise, wouldn't we carry out the same burial rituals and the same rites of mourning for the spontaneous loss of an embryo that we observe for the death of a child?" "The general difficulty with the equal moral status view has to do with this deep assumption that the moral universe is divided in binary terms," said Sandel. "We would do better to cultivate a more expansive appreciation of life as a gift that commands our reverence and restricts our use. Stem cell research to cure debilitating disease using six- to eight-day-old blastocysts, cloned or uncloned, is a noble exercise of our human ingenuity to promote healing and to play our part in repairing the given world." One thing that seems clear despite this controversy, said Deborah Spar, the Spangler Family professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, is that there will be business in stem cells. While government restrictions can and will regulate how such a market develops, it will not stop it from developing, she said. There is already a huge demand for the health-promoting products that stem cells can create, so before long, the supply will emerge. --Tom Fagan
Stem Cell Institute Spans Seven Harvard SchoolsThe newly inaugurated Harvard Stem Cell Institute is a collaboration of HMS and six other Harvard schools, seven Harvard teaching hospitals, and nearly 100 researchers to develop the therapeutic use of adult and embryonic stem cells. Among the beneficiaries-to-be are an estimated 150 million Americans who suffer from some form of organ or tissue failure. The institute will focus first on five areas: diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, blood diseases, cardiovascular disease, and musculoskeletal diseases like muscular dystrophy.Relying more than most research initiatives on nongovernmental funding, much of which still must be raised, the institute is projected to become the largest, most comprehensive stem cell program in the United States and one of the leading centers of this kind in the world. Beyond basic and clinical science, the initiative also will tackle the ethical, religious, and political issues associated with stem cells, drawing on resources across the University. "The Harvard Stem Cell Institute is an important effort to help unlock one of the fundamental mysteries of life and could lead to important new medical treatments," said Harvard president Lawrence Summers at the April 23 inaugural symposium. Some of the most promising stem cell work involves human embryonic stem cells since they may develop into any cell type in the body. This research is also the most controversial because some people argue that it violates the sanctity of human life. In August 2001, President Bush limited federally funded research on human embryonic stem cells to cell lines already in existence. Many scientists, however, contend that these cell lines are insufficient for fulfilling the promise of stem cell research, and private funding therefore is necessary. Howard Heffron, a member of the Harvard Law School Class of 1951, donated $5 million toward the new institute, saying he wanted to help fill the void left by the federal government. "Given the potential we have here, to not take advantage of it would be a tragedy in a way," said institute codirector David Scadden, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital who also serves as director of the hospital's Center for Regenerative Medicine and Technology. In its initial phase, the institute will be a virtual center, supporting research and drawing scientists together who work in labs that may be physically distant. Researchers will develop core laboratory facilities and needed technology to perform functions such as cell sorting, imaging of stem cells in their natural environments, and the transfer of nuclei between cells. The institute will also seek to create a community among researchers through frequent informal gatherings focused on a particular scientific problem and monthly seminars with outside experts. It will hold two symposia in its first year and an annual symposium thereafter. Within a few years, Scadden and the institute's other codirector, Douglas Melton, a Howard Hughes investigator and the Thomas Dudley Cabot professor of natural sciences at Harvard, said they hope to add a central physical location for the institute, complete with laboratory facilities. "This is predominantly driven by the scientific opportunity to make a difference in human health," Scadden said. "If at the end of the day, we haven't come up with some clinical results that have an impact on human health, we will not have accomplished our goals." --Adapted from Alvin Powell |
