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the Stem Cell Page time and ignorance are the enemies |
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SCNT and the mouthwash postulate |
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April 17, 2006
An old friend recently asked me some questions about somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The questions themselves were fairly run of the mill, but where they led was quite interesting.
He said he had heard about SCNT in one of those “coffee klatch” conversations around the office and a brief debate had ensued. He had listened and picked up bits and pieces but really didn’t understand the topic well enough to join in. Still, it had piqued his curiosity sufficiently to make a couple of mental notes and prompted his asking if I could provide him with the basic elements.
I told him the process itself was not difficult to understand and went on to explain.
1. A woman volunteers to donate an egg. The woman is typically treated with medication that induces hyper-ovulation. The egg used may be one of several harvested.
2. The nucleus of the egg is removed. By enucleating the egg, the genetic code of the woman is removed and what is left is a blank “shell” or vessel containing nutrients. This shell is saved and the nucleus discarded.
3. A patient’s somatic cell is isolated and enucleated A patient’s healthy somatic cell is harvested, typically by scraping skin from virtually any part of the body. This could be performed as simply as a swab of the cheek. The nucleus of that somatic cell is extracted and in this case, the nucleus is saved, but the remainder of the cell is discarded.
4. The nucleus of the patient’s cell is transferred. It’s inserted into that blank shell remaining from the donated, enucleated egg.
5. The re-nucleated egg is placed into an in vitro medium. The cell with the newly inserted nucleus in placed in a Petri dish with cultures that will nourish the cell, encouraging it to divide and grow.
6. An electric charge is introduced. This electric charge stimulates the cell to divide in that “culture cocktail” and creates embryonic stem cells in about 5 days.
He looked at me quizzically. “And?”
I explained that the newly formed stem cells produced by SCNT would be an exact genetic match to the patient. This could be of great benefit toward potentially reducing or eliminating the need for immuno-rejection therapies in a host of treatments for a myriad of diseases.
Again he gave me that quizzical look. “That’s it?” he asked.
Not sure how he intended his question, I said, “Well that’s the ‘Cliff Notes’ version. If you want more detail, I can certainly direct you to medical research journals and some excellent web sites. Were you interested in process charts or photographs?”
“No,” he answered, “You’ve explained the process so I understand it. What I don’t understand is the huge debate at my office.”
I explained to him that even though there is no sperm introduced in this process, some people believe that SCNT leads to the creation of embryos and that the cells equate to an independent human life.
“Oh, the nuts,” he said.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. Let’s just say they’re of a different belief.”
“No, they’re the nuts,” he insisted. Of course I had to ask him why he thought so.
“Look,” he said, “there are some matters that aren’t always universally encompassing – except in the eyes of the nuts. By a generally accepted definition of alcoholism, anyone who uses alcohol every morning right after waking up would be considered an alcoholic, right?” I nodded my agreement. “Then by that definition you and I are both alcoholics.”
I was taken aback. I’m not much of a drinker even in social settings; a couple of beers a year, a glass of wine with dinner now and then, and even more rarely a Gran Marnier. That totals maybe 10 to 15 drinks a year. “Why would you say that I’m an alcoholic?”
He smiled as if he’d caught me in some trap. “Do you use mouthwash every morning?”
“Sure, I do. So what?”
“Your mouthwash likely contains alcohol. Not that you’d ever consume enough to get drunk, but by that strict definition, using it to start every day makes you an alcoholic. Of course, it would take a real nut to make that charge, wouldn’t it?”
Well, I had to agree it would certainly take a temperance extremist to connect those dots but his point was made. Just as I would never get drunk on my Listerine, SCNT will never be used to produce a cloned human baby. He was right. Only an extremist makes that leap.
Had the conversation ended there, it would have been a sufficiently enlightening discussion. But there was more.
“Let me make sure I understand this,” he continued. “Using SCNT, duplicates of my original embryonic stem cells can be replicated and they’ll continue to replicate until there’s a sufficient quantity for some treatment I may need, right?”
“Yes.”
“So those are my cells. I mean they contain only my DNA, my genetic code, right?”
“Correct.”
“Well, who owns my DNA? Don’t I own my own genetic code?”
“I suppose that’s right.”
He continued, “Well as long as they’re replicating and those cells that contain only my DNA, then the cells are mine. Period. Only a nut would try to tell me my cells somehow have rights above my own - or what I can and can’t do with my own cells.”
“Not necessarily,” I cautioned. “What if you tried to create a whole new you? What if you attempted to create a baby from those cells?”
“Hey, bud,” he answered with a chuckle and a smile, “If all I want to do is freshen up my breath, I’m not going to guzzle a fifth of scotch.”
He nailed it: Mouthwash is to alcoholism as SCNT stem cell research is to reproductive cloning.
Sounds like a great bumper sticker. If only I had thought of it…
- Jeff Eisen
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