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American Morning
Athens Lab One of Only 10 in World
Aired September 05, 2001 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Scientific promise versus medical and political reality. Embryonic stem cell research is the focus of a Senate hearing that begins this hour. That's the first public debate on President Bush's compromised decision. On August 9th, you may recall, Mr. Bush announced that federal funding for research would be limited to 64 stem cell lines that have already been created.
Scientists say that stem cell research could ultimately lead to cures or treatments for disorders like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. But, some say the president's restrictions could jeopardize all of that research.
Well, four of the 64 stem cell lines approved for federal research dollars are stored at a laboratory nearby here, in Athens, Georgia.
Our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been given unprecedented access to that laboratory. Let's go there now. Good morning, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon. Leon, there are only 10 labs in the entire world that have human embryonic stem cells suitable for federal funding, and I'm in one of them.
The company is called BresaGen, the lab is in Athens, Georgia, right outside Atlanta. This whole field is so incredibly new that the stem cells that we're going to show you today, you're going to get upclose and person with some embryonic stem cells, actually just arrived here yesterday. They were brought in a car, carried in, and in fact, they carry the stem cells here -- you see there Allan Robins, who's a senior VP here of BresaGen.
They actually put the stem cells in their little freezer canister in liquid nitrogen. They put them in the seatbelt, so in case something happens they don't go flying. They bring them in separate car loads, because if something terrible, God forbid, were to happen to that car, at least they would have some other ones that would be in different cars.
So, you see him here carrying them into the building. That was just yesterday. And in fact, today, we are hear with Allan Robins, and he is going to show us some of these stem cells. He's doing it, because I'm afraid if I did it I might drop it. But here they are, stored in liquid nitrogen. How cold is this, Dr. Robins?
DR. ALLAN ROBINS, BRESAGEN: Minus 196 degrees, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Wow! Minus 196 degrees. That's why he is wearing those gloves.
ROBINS: That's why he's wearing the gloves.
COHEN: And here they are. What we're about to see are four vials of human...
ROBINS: Right. There's only one in this. There's three in the other one.
COHEN: And there it is. I won't touch them.
ROBINS: No, it's very cold.
COHEN: Those are actual human embryonic stem cells. They are frozen before they would do any work on them. It has the date on there, doesn't it, that they were frozen?
ROBINS: Yes. I'll just put them back so that they...
COHEN: That was in April. And we have to put them immediately back, they're not allowed to stay out for very long, or else they might thaw prematurely, and we definitely don't want that to happen.
And here are the other three?
ROBINS: There is two in this one.
COHEN: Oh, there is two in that one, and then one in another.
ROBINS: Yes.
COHEN: There we go, there they are.
Now, these cells that you just saw, in and of themselves, actually are somewhat useless. You would never use these cells as a medical treatment, because what they are is they're blank cells.
Now hopefully what scientists will be able to do is to make them specialized into one of their many, or hopefully all, of the 220 specific specific tissue and cell types that are in the human body.
And then basically what you're able to do, what, theoretically, doctors would be able to do, is to create sort of spare tissues and cells for the human body. For example, if someone had a blood disorder, theoretically you could make blood cells that would be able to repair that disorder. That's what scientists hope to do with human embryonic stem cells.
But, there is one little hurdle that needs to be overcome: These cells need to get from this lab to researchers all over the world, so that they can start doing the kinds of research that needs to be done to make those medical treatments a reality.
Now, and there's going to be a hearing today on the Senate, where some researchers and lawmakers are going to say that they are a little concerned that the cell lines that are out there, they're a little concerned that they're not necessarily in the best condition for research. They are also concerned about legal restrictions that might be put on the cells. And Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, will be addressing those concern, Leon.
HARRIS: Elizabeth, I'm curious about one thing, this is a technical thing, it's not about the issues here. I wanted you to ask the doctor if he could explain us to how you thaw these things out once you do get them frozen down to, what is it? Minus one billion degrees, whatever it is they got them frozen at.
What do you do to thaw them out without destroying them or anything?
COHEN: That's right. Dr. Robins, I assume you don't put these in the microwave to thaw them out. How would you do it?
ROBINS: You don't put them in the microwave, Elizabeth. They are thawed out very slowly, brought up to temperature. They're frozen in a medium that actually preserves them. So, that when you thaw them out, the cells don't die.
It's similar to cryopreservation techniques that used for other cells that are well-documented in cell biology. So, the freezing protocols aren't so special for embryonic stem cells compared to other cells that we freeze now.
COHEN: Couldn't you just put them on the counter and they thaw, or you have to be more careful than that?
ROBINS: You have to be a little more careful than that. But, it's basically a very simple thawing protocol.
COHEN: Great. Thank you, Dr. Robins.
ROBINS: Thank you.
COHEN: Leon, we'll be here at this lab all day. Again, one of only 10 labs in the entire world that have human embryonic stem cells that are suitable for federal funding.
HARRIS: All right, good deal. That's incredible. Thanks Elizabeth Cohen, we'll talk to you later on. We'll be checking with you throughout the day, as you said.
Folks, you can find some animation that explains the embryonic stem cell research on our web site. Just log onto cnn.com/stemcell. AOL keyword: CNN.
There, you'll also find some in-depth information on the science and the politics behind the stem cell debate. Also, the details of President Bush's decision right there.
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