Jun 6 2007, 2:16 PM EST
News source: Business Wire
With the U.S. House of Representatives expected to vote this week on legislation that would ease restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and fund alternatives, PrimeCell(TM) Therapeutics' lead stem cell researcher, Francisco Silva, is available to discuss the company's groundbreaking research in the development of adult germ line stem cells.
PrimeCell Therapeutics' work in the therapeutic reprogramming of germ line stem cells has resulted in a stem cell platform called PrimeCell(TM) -- a source of cells that are derived from adults but share the very characteristic that makes embryonic stem cells so promising for therapy. That quality is their elasticity, or pluripotency - the ability to transform into any other cell type in the body. These adult cells already have been therapeutically reprogrammed into a number of therapeutically valuable cells.
"What we're all after is the cell with the highest therapeutic value - the cell that will lead to life-changing therapies as quickly and as safely as possible," Silva said.
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More NewsWHO: Francisco J. Silva, VP of Research & Development for PrimeCell
Therapeutics and a principal contributor to the company's
intellectual property portfolio. Silva oversees the development
of all therapeutic platforms, is responsible for PrimeCell
Therapeutics' current scientific progress and designs, and
implements the company's premier research developments.
WHAT: PrimeCell has the potential to be the first human adult
pluripotent stem cell and shows great therapeutic promise.
It does not require the creation, use or destruction of embryos.
WHEN: The House of Representatives is expected to vote on stem cell
legislation on Thursday, June 7.
HOW: Schedule an interview with Francisco Silva by contacting:
Ken Greenberg, Edge Communications, Inc.
(818) 990-5001; ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com
BACKGROUND
-- Reprogramming an adult cell to dedifferentiate it back into pluripotent stem cells is a key proposal (Option 4) in the 2005 President's Council on Bioethics white paper Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. Therapeutically reprogramming the germ line falls under this proposal and has already been accomplished by three independent laboratories.
-- Because the germ line is the most protected and genetically pure cell line in the body, it provides the best chance for successful therapies. For therapy, the cells would be derived from the same individual receiving the therapeutic treatment. This eliminates risk of rejection, infection and the introduction of foreign pathogens - and possibly reduces the time to regulatory approval for clinical trials.
-- Silva and the PrimeCell Therapeutics team have taken adult stem cells from testes -- the germ line -- and reprogrammed them to exhibit pluripotentiality. The technology has been validated. PrimeCell Therapeutics' mouse model Proof of Concept is similar to that referenced in an article published by German researchers in the journal Nature, and described in a 2006 Reuters article.
-- PrimeCells don't just show promise, they actually work. They've been successfully transformed into beating murine heart cells through therapeutic reprogramming.
-- Ian Wilmut, the Scottish researcher who led the team that cloned "Dolly" from a six-year-old sheep, said the science of reprogramming is moving quickly and may yield results sooner than with cloning (Hartford Courant, March 28, 2007). "Other scientists may find a way to create personal lines of healing stem cells without cloning at all. In my view, it is difficult to predict which will come first but I think we need to try
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