Embryonic stem cells prone to genetic mutations, says new research

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TORONTO, September 9 (CNA) - A new study indicates that stem cells made from

human embryos are prone to serious genetic mutations associated with cancer.

The study was published in the Sept. 4 issue of Nature Genetics and reported

in the press by CanWest. According to a team of scientists at Hopkins

University, led by Aravinda Chakravarti, the mutations are so serious that

the cells will have to be carefully monitored and screened before being used

to treat people.

The team compared the " genetic health " of different cell lines, which had

been started at different times and which included some of the first cell

lines created in 1998. They found that the more divisions the cells had

undergone, the more mutations they had. The scientists described the

mutations as those " commonly observed in human cancers. "

While previous studies suggested mutations were rare, CanWest reports that

the new suggests claims that a steady supply of new cell lines will be

needed to replace the old cell lines due to the mutations that occur when

the cells divide.

This discovery may pose a dilemma for long-term embryonic stem-cell research

and therapy in the United States, where President W. Bush announced

in 2001 that the government would only fund research on already existing

stem-cell lines.