Stem-cell breakthrough may help UW researchers

A new method for creating embryonic stem cells would put a host of research projects on a fast track at the University of Washington, where scientists have been limited by aging embryonic stem-cell lines that have been fading as if they'd been "through generations of photocopying."

At the UW's Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, more than 70 researchers are trying to harness the regenerative powers of stem cells to treat conditions including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, deafness and amputation.

In the immediate term, the experimental technique announced Tuesday by teams in Japan and Wisconsin could be most useful in the fight against diabetes and heart disease, said Dr. Charles Murry, associate professor of pathology at the UW and co-director of the stem-cell institute.

That's because researchers haven't figured out how to grow heart cells or insulin-producing cells using adult stem cells. So a fresh supply of embryonic stem cells could put researchers that much closer to finding cures, Murry said.

"It could change our work pretty dramatically," Murry said. "I haven't been this excited about somebody else's work in a while."

Some of the UW scientists are using 14 of the 21 embryonic stem-cell lines now allowed by the federal government. But the lines are aging and losing some of their useful properties, Murry said.

Murry first heard rumors about the new technique last week. Shortly after the news broke Tuesday, Murry sent e-mails to both research teams in Japan and Wisconsin asking for use of the newly created stem cells.

But Murry cautions that creating embryonic stem cells is just one step in a difficult — and perhaps impossible — quest to grow useful cells that might reverse paralysis, restore hearing and a host of other hoped-for cures.

Kyung Song: 206-464-2423 or ksong@seattletimes.com