PRESS RELEASE: October 31, 2004
Contact: Loch Jones, 310-480-1234

Human Egg Donor Program Resumes . . . .1st in Nation

New funding announced today will allow the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation near Boston, Massachusetts, to resume its stem cell research on unfertilized human eggs, the first such program in the United States. The research has been interrupted four times because of lack of funding.

Mothers between the ages of 21 and 34 who meet rigorous psychological and physical testing requirements will donate eggs for the research. The eggs, which will not be fertilized with sperm, will be used to develop techniques to derive stem cells through nuclear transplantation and parthenote activation.

Using these techniques, stem cells providing a perfect tissue match could be generated from unfertilized eggs for patients suffering from currently incurable diseases, such as heart failure, spinal cord injury, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Research indicates that stem cell treatment may provide cures for these and many other conditions.

The nuclear transplantation procedure involves transplanting the patient’s own genetic material into a donated egg, replacing the egg’s genes. The reconstructed egg is then artificially activated to begin developing stem cells that would be an identical tissue match to the patient. Such stem cells could have the same potential to develop into all types of tissues (pluripotency) as stem cells derived from human embryos.

Parthenote stem cells would develop from unfertilized eggs, activated artificially, with the egg’s own genes. Parthenote stem cells may also be pluripotent. The characteristics of parthenote stem cells are less well researched than other types of stem cells, but unfertilized parthenote stem cells derived from a monkey have been shown by researchers to have the same developmental potential as embryonic stem cells.

The human female is born with approximately one million eggs, all of which (20,000 per year) die by the time she is 55 years of age. The egg donors are compensated for time, effort, child care and travel expenses.

The Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation egg donation program originally started in September, 2000. Early results were published in the Journal of Regenerative Medicine in the fall of 2001. Guidelines for the program were developed first in collaboration with an independent Ethics Advisory Board chaired by Professor Ron Green of Dartmouth College. BSCRF now has its own Ethics Advisory Board, chaired by Professor Arthur Applbaum of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. The egg donor program is also being reviewed by a second, independent Human Subjects Review Panel.

“ We’re grateful for the new funds and eager to continue our efforts to derive pluripotent stem cell lines from unfertilized human eggs. Our work to date indicates we are very close to success,” stated Dr. Ann Kiessling, BSCRF director. “Because we are a public charity, our research results will be readily available to all stem cell scientists.” The Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), Massachusetts corporation.

Additional information is available on their website: www.bedfordresearch.org