The paradise and barrier of human embryonic stem cells

USD 6,000 for stem cell vials is the price given by Singapore's ES Cell International on the world market. It is a very cheap price because from this stem cell vial one can cure the hottest "diseases" such as cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes or more importantly replace a body part without fear of being eliminated.

It is worth noting that ES Cell International is the first company in the world to carry out human embryonic stem cell business. Why is it not a company of technical powers like the US, UK or Australia but a small lion island company?

There are two main types of stem cells in the world today: adult stem cells and human embryonic stem cells. In which adult stem cells are the stem cells derived from mature tissue cells such as umbilical cord blood and spinal cord . The limitations of this type of adult stem cell are not possible. Variable energy. For example, adult stem cells derived from spinal cord can only produce new blood cells.

Whereas human embryonic stem cells are unmatched. From an original stem cell, it can form any part of the human body as desired and it is also a precursor to cloning. However its origin comes from a 4-5 day old fetus.

There is also another type of stem cell, the umbilical stem cell with the potential to be found between two types of adult stem cells and human embryonic stem cells.

As the most advanced technical method available today, human embryonic stem cells are used to treat incurable diseases, and can restore extinct animals. However, morally and socially, this technique faces many barriers from all sides.

Stem cells are isolated from brain cells, opening a path to healing the future

The study of human adult stem cells began in the 1960s. The first success was when scientists applied adult stem cells to the treatment of autoimmune dysfunction in the year. 1968. Since the 1970s onwards, adult stem cells have been widely used to treat immunodeficiency and leukemia.

At the same time, human embryonic cells have also been researched and applied by scientists. One of the first human embryonic cell users was scientist John Enders, who won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1954 by applying human embryonic cells to the study of polio virus.

In 1994, Ariff Bongso, a Sri Lankan scientist working at the National University of Singapore, was the first in the world to successfully separate stem cells from human embryos. However due to problems in information, the world now recognizes James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin as the first to do so in 1998.

To obtain a human embryonic stem cell, scientists will have to destroy a human embryo at 4-7 days of age. This is the reason why embryonic stem cell technology has many objections in Western European countries.

Most countries with developed science in the world such as the US, France, Germany . are strongly affected by the church and now the abortion laws in these countries face many difficulties before being informed. by. And it's not too difficult to understand when the church vehemently opposes the use of a 4-7-day-old fetus for research purposes.

In the EU, 9/15 members banned the study of human embryonic stem cells. The United States, which has the world's leading technology and research, is a leader in the fight against human embryonic cell research.

In 2001, President George Bush issued a ban on federal funding for stem cell research in general. And the latest in July this year, President Bush used his veto for the first time in his term against all efforts to lift his 2001 ban.

Taking advantage of the opportunities of the US and the world's leading technical countries to encounter some religious and political barriers that cannot research and develop human embryonic stem cells, Asian countries realize this is Assembly for them and they did not hesitate to invest a lot of money in this new technology. And the day of fruit picking has come.

In 2004, a group of British scientists after visiting the facilities at four points in Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Singapore had " gasped " as they witnessed the stem cell laboratories here for themselves. It is completely superior to the West.

On his blog, Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com editor, wrote an article titled 'Want to study stem cells? Come to Singapore '. He wrote: 'If you are a human embryonic stem cell researcher, book a flight to Singapore right away. ES Cell International has started to trade human embryonic stem cells that meet medical criteria. ES boldly declared that no company in the world has enough power to sell qualified stem cells like theirs so far. Singapore aims to become a world leader in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and use special incentives to recruit talents around the world in this area. '

According to data from the Singapore Government, since 2000, the country has spent $ 949 million on biotechnology research and plans to spend an equivalent amount within the next five years . In addition, Singapore said it will spend $ 8.2 billion on R&D (research and development), especially in the field of stem cells within the next five years.

Along with modern equipment is a wise talent recruitment policy that the person assigned to this task is Professor Philip Yeo. Philip Yeo has traveled the world with the slogan: 'Come to Singapore and complete your work there'. Yeo's six years of wandering around the world were not in vain when so many well-known scientists left the most prestigious universities or research institutes in America to work in Singapore. This phenomenon has been called a 'brain drain' by a Stanford University professor.

In 2002, a big name in the field of stem cells moved to Singapore to work. It was Alan Colman, a British scientist who headed the Dolly sheep cloned successful group in 1997 (head to ES Cell Intemational as chief scientist). In 2003, Jackie Ying, the youngest professor in the history of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, left school to go to Singapore.

Earlier this year, two more names were added: Professor Edward Holmes and his wife Judith Swain - two deans at the University of California (USA) - gave up $ 450,000 a year to work in Singapore.

Formality is slower than Singapore but India is emerging in the development of high biotechnology. India's advantage is to own a huge population so there is no need to invest too much in recruiting talent. Hindu religion does not mention the study of human embryonic stem cells, in addition India is forced to develop human embryonic stem cells, because this technique is the only buoy to help India cure more and more patients. of the country's growing population.

During 2005-2007, India intends to establish stem cell research centers in at least 24 cities across the country. In 2005, 1,000 women voluntarily donated their child's umbilical cord blood (a material to make stem cells) and this number increased greatly this year.

In addition to Singapore and India, Asia cannot help mentioning the three Northeast Asian countries, Japan, China and South Korea. The most prominent among these three countries is Korea with a successful cloning of some animals.

In 2001, China decided to spend $ 36.3 million to establish a stem cell bank, a transplant center and a center for stem cell technology development . Similar to Singapore, China has not been able to train leading experts in this field, so the only way is to recruit talent from top US universities.

Although there have been certain advances, many experts believe that it will take a long time for Asian countries to apply stem cell techniques to true healing. Experts say Asian countries can only develop in a short period of time, not enough to go a long way.

In terms of financial potential, the amount of money given by the Government of Singapore (mentioned above) or as $ 27 million in two years that the Korean Government spent on studying stem cells unbalanced compared to the amount $ 27 billion spent by the National Institutes of Health every year.

Second on personnel. There is no university in Asia that can afford to train scientists of sufficient level to create a breakthrough in the field of stem cells. Even the most populous country in the world, such as China, must import scientists at top US universities. Or as Singapore - dubbed the paradise of stem cells - is hard to find a talent with only 4.4 million people.

With more potential, Western countries have begun to make major investments in stem cell research. In California alone, state governor Amold Schwarzeneger promised to spend $ 150 million to study stem cells. However, the project was delayed because it was not allowed.

Once the US is not allowed to study stem cells, the research situation in this area worldwide can be said like headless snakes. No matter how developed Asian countries are, the most modern means still belong to the United States. Due to the lack of government approval, American scientists are still struggling with 21 old stem cell lines, so they haven't made any breakthroughs in this area.

This is an immense waste of facilities and talents that the United States owns. And in the near future, when stem cell technology no longer faces moral - social barriers, the US will probably regain its leading position in this advanced science.

Germany : Prohibition of research on German embryonic stem cells but allows research for legitimate imported cells, and is allowed to publicly support the study of adult stem cells and animal embryonic stem cells .

France : Allows the use of human embryos to study stem cells but prohibits cloning.

UK: Allowing research of human stem cells for the purpose of treatment with the condition of using embryos abandoned during the process of artificial insemination.Embryonic cloning for disease research is also allowed.

Sweden: Allows research on stem cells using human embryos abandoned during artificial insemination.Sweden has created 10% of existing stem cells worldwide.

Israel: There is no official law and there is little opposition from the community.Researchers at the two universities have created four stem cell lines and are in the process of creating more lines.

Australia: Completely prohibiting cloning technology but not agreeing on stem cell research.

Japan: The law allows research on human embryos abandoned during artificial insemination.If cloned will be fined up to 10 years in prison and $ 90,000.

Singapore: Establishing a team of scientists from many fields such as philosophy, natural science and law to study ethics in biotechnology research.Singapore National University has created six stem cell lines and is being traded by ES Cell International.

China: Research on embryonic cells is prohibited, but it allows research on stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood.