Gareth Walsh

SCIENTISTS have made a breakthrough in cell research that they believe brings the prospect of drastic improvements in the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

According to reports yesterday they have discovered the chemical trigger that causes stem cells from embryos to start developing into organs, raising the possibility of parts of the body being able to repair their own damage.

Scientists have already established that the stem cells found in embryos have the capacity to develop into all other types of human cell. Until now they have been unable to find the correct chemical mix to spur them artificially into changing into endoderm, the layer of cells in embryos that in turn gives rise to organs.

Researchers at CyThera, an American company, announced last week in Nature Biotechnology, the scientific journal, that they had developed a technique to produce highly enriched endoderm cultures. Their research proves that embryonic stem cells have the capacity to change in the laboratory into endoderm.

Emmanuel Baetge, scientific director of CyThera, said: “If you were to use human embryonic stem cells to make products that treat disease such as diabetes or liver failure, you would have to go through the endoderm stage to get (them).”

The CyThera research team described its work as “a critical step in generating scientifically and therapeutically useful cells”. It has also been hailed by colleagues who say that endoderm is notoriously difficult to obtain.

CyThera’s work will go some way to assuaging fears among doctors that expectations of stem cell technology are racing ahead of results.

Despite the potential that many scientists believe stem cells hold, the research is controversial. Obtaining stem cells can involve the destruction of embryos. Opponents of the process, including President George W Bush and the Roman Catholic Church, argue that this represents the ending of a human life.

Scientists have been trying to develop new ways of obtaining stem cells. But the techniques, developed using mouse cells, may not work when transferred to humans.

Drugs can do little more than slow the onslaught of degenerative diseases, but scientists hope that stem cells can one day be used to rebuild tissue and grow new organs.