Diabetes group looks outside U.S. for stem cell research

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation hopes its partnership with Singapore will identify and create insulin-producing cells.

By Andis Robeznieks, amednews staff. Nov. 17, 2003.

When it comes to human embryonic stem cell research, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation said it puts its money where the scientists ask for it. As a result, more of the stem cell research it funds is being done overseas.

Last month, JDRF entered into a $3 million partnership with Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research and cited that nation's "more favorable" research climate as a reason for doing so. This continues a foreign stem cell research funding trend for JDRF. In the fiscal year that ended July 31, the foundation spent $3 million on human embryonic stem cell research, and $2 million of that was spent outside the United States.

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"JDRF has, to date, received very few [stem cell research] applications from research groups in the U.S.," said JDRF Associate Director Marc S. Hurlbert, PhD. "The climate around human embryonic stem cell research in the U.S.A. has hampered U.S.-based researchers working in this field."

Dr. Hurlbert said JDRF's research in Singapore would include identifying human stem cells capable of forming insulin-secreting cells and directing those stem cells into becoming insulin-producing cells suitable for human use.

JDRF already has partnerships in Sweden and the United Kingdom, and Dr. Hurlbert said a request for applications put out in Sweden resulted in a deluge of grant applications. "[W]e had so many meritorious responses, we couldn't fund them all," he said.

In contrast, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research reports that most of its stem cell research is being conducted stateside.

78 stem cell lines have been approved by the NIH, but only 12 can be used for research.

MJFF research program manager Michael Claeys, said the foundation has funded 14 grants totaling $5.6 million for adult and embryonic human stem cell research projects. Claeys said 12 of those were for research conducted in the United States and two had gone to researchers in Sweden.

"Our program is open to applications worldwide," Claeys said, adding that the research in Sweden was done using stem cell lines approved by the National Institutes of Health.

There are 78 stem cell lines approved by the NIH, but only a fraction are available for scientists to use in research. This fraction, however, is growing.

There are 12 lines available, and NIH Stem Cell Task Force Chair James Battey, MD, PhD, said he expected two more NIH-approved lines from Sweden to be available soon.

"They're doing everything they can to change the climate and we applaud that," said Dr. Hurlbert of NIH efforts to support existing stem cell programs with infrastructure grants and to offer training programs for scientists working with stem cells.

Still, Dr. Hurlbert said the available stem cell lines can be too expensive for small-scale researchers, and patent concerns scare away investors.

Nevertheless, he said, the major problem with federal stem cell policies is that they appear to be discouraging new scientists from entering the stem cell research field.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

In small supply

There are 12 NIH-approved embryonic stem cell lines available to U.S. researchers. Here's who owns them.

BresaGen Inc., Athens, Ga. 2
ES Cell International, Melbourne, Australia 5
MizMedi Hospital Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea 1
University of California, San Francisco 1
Wis. Alumni Research Foundation, Madison, Wis. 3

Source: National Institutes of Health