(Circulation. 2000;102:e9003.)
© 2000 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News |
Cardiovascular News
American Heart Association Takes a Stand on Stem Cells
Research involving pluripotent or embryonic stem cells will be eligible for funding from the American Heart Association (AHA) under guidelines approved by the group’s board on June 25, 2000. However, said Rose Marie Robertson, MD, AHA president, grants involving such research cannot be accepted until guidelines for performing the work and monitoring compliance with those guidelines are presented to the organization’s board. She anticipates this will happen in October.
The issue of research involving human embryonic stem cells has been contentious since the first publications reporting that such cells had been isolated and cultured (Science. 1998;282:1061–1062, Science. 1998;282:1145–1147, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998;95:13726–13731). Opposition to research involving such cells arises not because of the potential of such work but because of the source of the cells. In one of the above-noted studies, stem cells were derived from embryos that were made for in vitro fertilization and later discarded because they were not needed. In the other studies, the cells were derived from aborted fetal tissue.
The US Congress has banned the use of fetal tissue in federally funded research, but the potential of these cells has raised the question again. Human embryonic stem cells have the potential to become almost any kind of cell in the human body. They might be used to grow new skin for burn patients or to produce heart muscle tissue to replace that destroyed by a heart attack.
The US Senate held hearings on the issues involved in human stem
cell