Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Stem Cell Research Also Included In: Eye Health / Blindness;Diabetes;Multiple Sclerosis Article Date: 27 Jun 2012 - 9:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Stem Cell Breakthrough Significant For Degenerative Diseases

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But it is a long journey from showing something works in the research lab to using it safely and ethically in patients, and there are many hurdles.

One such hurdle is providing stem cells lines "developed under stringent ethical guidelines, from traceable and tested donors, preferably in an animal-free, GMP-grade culture system," write the researchers in a comprehensive paper published online on 20 June in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

Another, is to ensure the hESCs meet safety criteria, and do not have traces of animal components, such as from mice and cows, as these can introduce the risk of animal pathogens running amok in the patient's body.

Now after 12 years of painstaking work, researchers at the Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, have announced they have created three new lines of "xeno-free and GMP-grade human embryonic stem cells".

In their paper, lead investigator professor Benjamin Reubinoff, a world-renowned stem-cell pioneer and the new chairman of obstetrics/gynecology at the Ein Kerem medical center, and colleagues, describe the journey they took to produce clinically-compliant hESCs.

They conclude that the three hESC lines they produced "may be valuable for regenerative therapy".

And they also suggest that the "ethical, scientific and regulatory methodology" they followed may serve as a model for developing further clinical-grade hESCs.

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Stem Cell Breakthrough Significant For Degenerative Diseases