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Opening the doors to a new era of medical scienceJNU Prof. Park Se Pill to attempt to clone human embryonic stem cells, a scientific first |
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| ▲ If Prof. Park is successful, it will not only be a scientific first, but also be a step towards curing diseases like Parkinson’s. File photo |
At the forefront of world research in this technology, Jeju National University (JNU) Professor Park Se Pill has said his team will attempt to clone human embryonic stem cells within the next five years. If successful, the method could potentially cure a number of previously incurable diseases such as Parkinson’s, brain ischemia, and diabetes as well as treat spinal cord injuries.
If Prof. Park proves successful, this will be a first in scientific history.
On Nov. 7, the central government gave official approval for Prof. Park and his research center to conduct intra-species somatic cell nuclear transfer research — the act of injecting the nucleus from a somatic cell (not a reproductive cell) into an unfertilized human ova that has had its genetic information removed — with the purpose of cloning patient-specific stem cell lines. According to Prof. Park, out of the nine institutions that can perform this type of research in Korea, only one other institution, Cha Biotech & Diostech in Seoul, is conducting the controversial cloning experiments with the use of human ovum.
Several institutions throughout the world have attempted to clone human stem cell lines for theraputic cloning, but until now all have failed. Most notable was that of Seoul National University Professor Hwang Woo Suk who gained rock star status after publishing papers in the journal “Science” claiming this scientific breakthrough, though it was later discovered that his work was fraudulent. The response from the public caused for stricter government regulations on embryonic research and raised ethical concerns worldwide.
Using his four patented cloning techniques, Prof. Park hopes he will succeed where others have failed. According to Prof. Park, if the National Bioethics Committee approves the process to use human ovum early next year, he will fertilize an egg with the nucleus from a somatic cell (a process known as the intra-species somatic cell nuclear transfer) and once the cells begin to divide and multiply, the ova can be used for two purposes. “[The] first one is therapy cloning — [the] treatment of incurable patients. The other one is reproductive cloning, [where] the embryo is put into a surrogate mother, and [then you have] a clone baby,” Prof. Park said.
For therapeutic cloning (reproductive cloning is illegal) primitive cells will be extracted from the ova and then turned into stem cells. According to the Center for Genetics and Society Web site these “‘customized’ embryonic stem cells … could generate compatible replacement tissues for individual patients. Replacement tissues generated in this way would presumably not be rejected by a patient’s immune system, since their genetic make-up would be the same as the patient.”
So far, Prof. Park said that no one has been able to retrieve cloned stem cells from the ova. He said one reason is because “when they take the nucleus from the egg [to remove the ovum’s genetic information], some of the cytoplasm comes out with the nucleus, but the cytoplasm decides how many cells will develop in the egg,” and with a reduced number of cells “it makes it harder to make a stem cell line.”
In October of this year, CNN announced that scientists in New York were able to remove cloned human stem cells from an egg for the first time but they were not “perfect ... because they have too many chromosomes.” Prof. Park said that though stem cells were retrieved, they were not useable for therapeutic cloning.
With having patented several techniques throughout his career and having done similar work cloning Jeju black cattle, Park is hopeful. “I have a patent for making a stem cell line and I also have a technique to minimize the cytoplasm being taken from the ova as well. I did a great job on the black cow,” he said.
Though no one has succeeded in cloning a human embryonic stem cell line for therapeutic cloning, Prof. Park is currently in a race with Cha Biotech & Diostech to be the first to achieve this scientific breakthrough.
“I will do it faster than them,” Prof. Park said, noting that Cha Biotech & Diostech have the skills to do it, but not the patents that he has.
“Whoever develops it … comes the wealth, comes the power, comes the money,” he said, adding that this breakthrough will bring forth a new era in medical science.
(Interpretation by Angela Kim)
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