Closer to a Cure

Massachusetts will soon join New Jersey and California as the third state to explicitly support embryonic stem cell research. This is a tremendous step forward for the state, researchers, and, most importantly, people suffering from diseases not yet curable through conventional medicine. Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to lead to cures for many different diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. State legislators deserve strong praise for recognizing the need for this research and promoting public health interests over the objections of Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney and others.

Many people are confused by stem cell research and the restrictions imposed on it by state and federal regulations. Currently, federal funding is provided for adult stem cell research—research on cells that, according to the National Institute of Health, have not yet adopted specialized roles within the body. In living humans, adult stem cells maintain and repair whatever tissue they are found in. While adult stem cells develop depending on the type of tissue they are found in, some scientists believe these adult stem cells can become cells of a different tissue. However, experiments aimed at this end have met with mixed success.

Embryonic stem cells, which come from embryos typically four to five days old, differ from adult stem cells in that scientists can reliably develop embryonic stem cells into different cell types. Federal funding, however, is only granted for research done on the existing embryonic stem cell lines President Bush identified in 2001, cell lines which are increasingly obsolete for cutting edge research. Current Massachusetts law is ambiguous on the topic of embryonic stem cell research. This is why the new Massachusetts law is so important. It will mean that the state government will actively work to encourage and foster embryonic stem cell research. The law also paves the way for Massachusetts to allocate public funds for embryonic stem cell research.

This is good news for Harvard and its researchers. The Broad Institute, composed of scientists from Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, is already poised to be a leading player in genetic research. With scientific programs devoted to genome sequencing and analysis, cancer, medical and population genetics, computational biology and bioinformatics, and chemical biology, the Institute will benefit enormously from new laws erasing ambiguities in state law over stem cell research. The support will be invaluable to the Institute’s work, and hopefully it will soon be receiving funding from the Massachusetts state government.

Of course, the biggest winners are everyday people. Embryonic stem cells could someday be used to repair or completely regenerate damaged tissue and organs. They could be used to better test potential medications. And perhaps most exciting of all, embryonic stem cells may also hold the key to better treatments or even cures for Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and heart disease. Scientists have only begun to understand the promise of stem cells. Massachusetts is taking the right step in backing these efforts wholeheartedly.