Harvard Pushes Stem Cell Research

Although the national debate over stem cell research has receded in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, scientists at Harvard are continuing to press forward in an attempt to further their research and create new medical advances.

In the past several weeks, the University created the Stem Cell Research Committee, a coalition of scientists, faculty and administrators, that will oversee all human stem cell research done at Harvard.

All Harvard professors engaged in stem cell research not funded by the government must gain the approval of the committee, and the first round of applications is due tomorrow.

Those professors who do receive governmental funding already must follow a set of guidelines issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but they, too, must register with the committee.

“We wanted to conduct a inventory on who was carrying out human stem cell research [at Harvard],” said Richard M. Losick, chair of the Stem Cell Research Committee and Cabot professor of biology.

Researchers working within the committee’s jurisdiction may have more freedom than those using NIH funds.

Currently, the government limits funding to only those stem cell lines that have been approved.

“Government only allows work to be done with a list of stem cell lines that existed last summer,” Losick said.

But Harvard has not placed a cap on the type of lines that can be used.

The committee will evaluate the proposals on a case by case basis, and at this time does not plan on establishing specific guidelines because the science surrounding stem cells “is moving so fast,” Losick said.

Research in embryonic stem cells has sparked intense political and ethical debates.

After months of public wrangling over the use of embryonic stem cells, President Bush announced limited federal funding for research on stem cell lines in an Aug. 9 address to the nation.

Some opponents of embryonic stem cell research argue that using stem cells is profiting from the taking of a human life, because an embryo has to be destroyed in order to create a stem cell line.

But proponents of stem cell research say that using embryos, most of which are already slated for destruction, has the potential to benefits countless individuals suffering from diseases ranging from Parkinson’s to diabetes.

Harvard’s committee on stem cell research includes an expert on moral debates, Arthur I. Applbaum, professor of ethics and public policy at the Kennedy School.

Committee members span a range of disciplines, representing the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), the medical school, the school of public health and the Kennedy School.

The University Provost’s Office mailed letters to the deans of FAS, the medical school and the school of public health asking them to inform their faculties about the committee, and the committee has already received some applications for research, said Dean R. Gallant ’72, who is the director of the Science Center and serves as the administrator for the new committee.

The number of Harvard labs conducting stem cell research is small, however, Losick said.

The committee has met once and will meet again following the receipt of the application to begin the evaluation process.

—Staff writer Zachary Z Norman can be reached at znorman@fas.harvard.edu.