Hopes and fears as UK sends in the clones /Cannabis hope for brain cancer /Left-Handed Drivers Safer Than Right

[Guest guest]

Hopes and fears as UK sends in the clones

 

KATE FOSTER

http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=941842004

 

CHARLIE is 14 and going through a typical adolescent struggle with his mood

swings and his exams. But on top of this he must cope with a major problem

that has set him apart from his friends since he was six.

 

Charlie has diabetes and needs up to eight injections a day to regulate his

blood sugar. He must eat regular meals and regular snacks. He can’t leave

the house without his injecting equipment or without knowing where his next

meal will come from.

 

He goes to boarding school because Sylvia Tobutt, Charlie’s mother, says it

is the only way the family could cope with her job and his illness. At

school he gets round-the-clock medical care.

 

His mother, who runs an accountancy firm, admits the diagnosis was terrible

and says it is her dream that a cure for his diabetes is found in his

lifetime.

 

Last week that treatment came a significant step closer when scientists at

the Newcastle Centre for Life were given permission to create the first

human clones in Britain.

 

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the body which regulates

stem cell research in Britain, granted the Newcastle team a licence to

create human embryonic stem cells using cell nuclear transfer, the same

technique that was used to create Dolly the Sheep.

 

The go-ahead for therapeutic cloning has given millions of patients new hope

and placed Britain at the forefront of pioneering international research on

a range of diseases which have so far proved incurable. Before the HFEA’s

decision last week, no western country had given the go-ahead for any sort

of cloning.

 

Stem cells created under this licence will be used for research purposes

only. The first thing the researchers will try to do is create human embryos

using eggs left over from IVF couples. This research is preliminary, it is

not aimed at specific illnesses. However, it is the foundation for further

development in the treatment of serious disease.

 

Cloned embryos can be created by removing the core of a human egg - the part

containing the mother’s genetic blueprint - and replacing it with the

genetic blueprint of the person to be treated. The egg is then stimulated

with electricity and chemicals mimicking the process of fertilisation

usually done by sperm. The egg starts to grow as if it has been fertilised.

Because no sperm has been used and no second parent is involved the

resulting embryo is an exact genetic copy of the donor - a clone. The

scientists plan to create up to 200 clones a year, starting this autumn.

 

The next thing the team plan to do is harvest insulin-producing cells from

the embryos that can be transplanted into diabetic patients. Because they

are derived from the patient’s DNA they should not be rejected by the immune

system.

 

This has yet to be approved and will require another HFEA licence - under

the new rules the embryos must be destroyed before they are 14 days old and

never allowed to develop beyond a cluster of cells the size of a pinhead.

But Sylvia Tobutt is excited: a best-case scenario would be a transplant of

cells from a cloned embryo that would effectively cure the diabetes.

 

She said: " This would allow Charlie to lead a completely normal life. His

treatment is a hell of a responsibility for a teenager. Sometimes he forgets

to do his injections. We have known about this type of research for a long

time. The aim of growing cells that can be transplanted has always seemed

like the dream, particularly from your own tissue. I do believe we will get

there one day. "

 

Her hopes are echoed by numerous patient groups, including Diabetes UK, the

charity that funds research into the disease. Diabetes UK has agreed to

support stem cell research both publicly and financially through its

research grant programme.

 

Should the diabetes element of the project be approved by the HFEA, and an

application for funding was received by Diabetes UK, the charity has said it

would consider it. Diabetes UK acknowledges that there are important ethical

issues involved in the use of stem cells but believes that the potential of

this area of research provides a real possibility of leading to a cure for

diabetes.

 

Other patient groups agree, including the Parkinson’s Society and the

Genetic Interest Group, which campaigns for people with disorders such as

cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s, and muscular dystrophy. These embryonic stem

cells can in principle develop into any human tissue, which could be used to

replace damaged tissue in the brain for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Both are

products of defective brain cells and could potentially be cured by

successful use of stem cells. Some believe that the cells could even produce

entirely new organs.

 

Liver cells could be grown to cure liver disease, or nerve cells made to

allow patients with spinal injury to walk again.

 

Sylvia Tobutt’s hopes are also shared by a number of high-profile

campaigners suffering from devastating illnesses. Jimmy Johnstone, the

Celtic legend now stricken with motor neurone disease, believes the research

could throw him a lifeline.

 

Jimmy - known as Jinky - was voted the Greatest Celt of all time by

supporters two years ago. He has now lost the use of his arms and hands and

can no longer sign autographs for fans.

 

Other famous names who have spoken out in support of stem cell research are

Michael J Fox, who has Parkinson’s disease, and Christopher Reeve, who is

paralysed.

 

The scientists at the University of Newcastle say clinical trials of human

cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes may only be

five to 10 years away.

 

John Gillott, spokesman for the Genetic Interest Group, said: " This work

will contribute both to the understanding of disorders and possible

therapeutic approaches. Potentially, many people could benefit from this.

Treatments could vary from person to person.

 

" It could provide us with the possibility of stem cell transplants which

could re-programme the patient’s cells. A cell transplant could be like a

bone marrow transplant or a simple injection depending on what it was for.

It might be invasive, but as a treatment the concern for many people would

not be how invasive it was but how effective. People with serious conditions

are willing to take risks.

 

" There are other research possibilities as well, because if scientists take

cells from someone with a genetic condition and clone them they can see how

the cells develop, which is a way of studying the condition. "

 

The Newcastle scientists said Britain could establish a world lead in

embryonic stem cell research, given sufficient financial backing. " Newcastle

is now the national front-runner but pressure is mounting in the United

States for its scientists to be allowed to do this work, " said Miodrag

Stojkovic, the project’s chief scientist last week.

 

The development was also welcomed by many members of the scientific

community who believe the potential to save lives by conducting therapeutic

cloning far outweighs the ethical arguments against it. The team claim that

in five or 10 years they may be able to take a skin cell from a patient and

offer them a cure. Professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh

where Dolly was cloned, said: " I believe that cells derived from cloned

embryos will be very important in research, as well as in the treatment of

disease.

 

" There are many unpleasant human diseases that reflect the loss of cells

that are not replaced.

 

" These include Parkinson’s, diabetes, spinal cord injury and some forms of

blindness. There is no fully effective treatment for many of these diseases,

and so the exciting new approach of transferring of new cells into patients

is very important. "

 

But others are not so convinced. The possibilities of therapeutic cloning

and stem-cell research are said to be nearly limitless. But there are also

few limits to the questions, and controversies, that such research throws

up. Pro life groups are already planning legal action to overturn the HFEA

ruling.

 

These groups oppose creating and harvesting embryos for research for the

same reason they oppose abortion: that this is tantamount to murder.

 

Professor Jack Scarisbrick, the national chairman of the charity Life, said:

" This is manipulation, exploitation and trivialisation of human life of a

frightening kind.

 

" The real reason for seeking this permission is probably as much about

playing God and breaching taboos as curing diseases. The birth of a cloned

baby will be next. "

 

In the UK, research on human embryos is only permitted for certain purposes.

But there are fears therapeutic cloning is a slippery slope towards the

birth of the first cloned baby, so-called ‘reproductive cloning’. The

methods are similar for both procedures. The licence approval has aroused

widespread national and international concern. While the creation of cloned

embryos for stem cell research is legal in the UK, the European Parliament

has called for it to be banned and the European Commission’s ethical

advisers consider it premature.

 

Earlier this year researchers in South Korea announced they had produced the

first human cloned embryo. Only a few other countries, such as Singapore,

Japan and Israel have legalised therapeutic cloning.

 

In most of Western Europe, Australia and the US it is either banned or

actively discouraged. American fertility expert Panos Zavos already claims

to have tried to create a human clone, although his first effort failed. The

Catholic Church is vehemently opposed, influencing policy in heavily

Catholic countries like Italy and Spain. In July, the French parliament

banned the use of human cloning for any purpose, making it punishable by up

to 30 years in prison, but said that stem cell research on existing embryos

was permissible.

 

Dr Donald Bruce is director of the Society, Religion and Technology Project

of the Church of Scotland, and has been in the forefront of the debate on

animal and human cloning since 1996.

 

The Church of Scotland has, since 1997, called for a global ban on

reproductive human cloning, but steps towards such a ban at the United

Nations are currently stalled.

 

Bruce believes the HFEA should have refused the licence application from

Newcastle. Although his reasons are largely ethical, including fears about

the misuse of the technology by maverick scientists and the lack of

international regulation, he is concerned about a major practical problem as

well, which could prove a fatal flaw.

 

He said: " The researchers claim that it could eventually lead to the

production of genetically matched replacement cells - so called therapeutic

cloning. Such claims are now increasingly criticised in the scientific

community for being impractical. It is of concern to see claims about

therapeutic cloning continuing to be made when it seems unlikely ever to

become a clinically reality.

 

" To provide a therapy for the hundreds of thousands of potential patients

who suffer from degenerative diseases would require enormous numbers of

human eggs. This seems unrealistic and probably too expensive. There is a

danger that this might only benefit the very rich instead of being a general

benefit to humankind. "

 

Sylvia and Charlie Tobutt, however, remain optimistic. " When Charlie was

diagnosed I asked the female consultant if he would still have diabetes when

he grew up, " Mrs Tobutt said. " She said he’ll need lifelong injections

several times a day. You can imagine how I felt and how difficult it was

getting used to that idea.

 

" He has an inflexible regime and must stick to a timetable of food and

injections. He faces coma, blindness, gangrene or loss of a limb if he does

not take his treatment regularly. If his blood sugar is too high or too low

it can be bad for him. He is very level headed and copes brilliantly. He is

very optimistic and capable. The doctors said at the time he was diagnosed

things would be much better in a few years. Well that was nearly eight years

ago. I do believe this latest research announcement will get us there. "

 

 

Cannabis hope for brain cancer

 

MURDO MacLEOD

http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=942112004

 

CANNABIS is set to be used in the battle against deadly brain cancers that

affect around 4,000 people in the UK each year, it has emerged.

 

Scientists have shown that cannabinoids - the active ingredients responsible

for the drug’s ‘high’ - hold back the growth of blood vessels which feed

tumours.

 

Tumours of the brain and the central nervous system kill about 340 Scots

each year, and many more undergo extensive surgery in a bid to save their

lives.

 

The cannabis findings hold out hope for brain tumour sufferers that they

could live longer and be treated using less invasive techniques.

 

The research will also reignite the debate over the use of cannabis for

other medicinal purposes. Many multiple sclerosis sufferers have campaigned

for the drug to be legalised, but ministers have been reluctant to allow its

widespread use. Although the status of cannabis was reclassified in January,

which meant that possession of the drug would be less harshly punished, it

has still not been legalised for medicinal purposes and supplying cannabis

is still treated as a serious offence.

 

The new research, which was conducted by scientists at Complutense

University in Madrid, saw cannabinoids injected into mice with gliomas,

which are fast-growing brain tumours.

 

The cannabinoids appear to block genes making a protein called VEGF

(vascular endothelial growth factor) that stimulates the sprouting of blood

vessels. Cutting off the blood supply to a tumour means it is unable to grow

and spread.

 

In studies, cannabinoids significantly reduced the activity of VEGF in

laboratory mice. They also lowered VEGF levels in tumour tissue samples

taken from two patients with glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal type

of brain tumour.

 

About 4,400 new cases of brain tumour are diagnosed in the UK each year. A

small percentage of these are grade four gliomas, the most aggressive and

dangerous brain tumours, also known as glioblastoma multiforme.

 

Only about 6% of people diagnosed with these high grade cancers live for

more than three years.

 

The disease is normally treated with surgery, followed by radiotherapy alone

or in combination with chemotherapy. But the main tumour often evades

complete destruction and grows again to kill the patient.

 

Cannabinoids had previously been shown to inhibit the growth of blood

vessels in mice. But the mechanism involved remained a mystery and it was

not known if the same effect occurred in humans.

 

Professor Manuel Guzman, from Complutense University in Madrid, who led the

research, said: " In both patients, VEGF levels in tumour extracts were lower

after cannabinoid inoculation. "

 

Writing in the journal Cancer Research, Guzman’s team said the findings

suggested that cannabinoids may offer a potential new way to treat incurable

brain tumours.

 

A leading British cancer expert last night welcomed the findings of the

study. Dr Richard Sullivan, the Head of Clinical Programmes for Cancer

Research UK, said: " This research provides an important new lead compound

for anti-cancer drugs targeting cancer's blood supply. Although this work is

at an early stage of development other research has already demonstrated

that VEGF is an important drug target for a range of cancers.

 

" The key now will be to show further activity in pre-clinical cancer models,

find out in which combinations cannabinoids show greatest activity and

formulate a product that can be tested in man. "

 

Biz Ivol, a veteran campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis for medical

purposes, last night hailed the results but claimed authorities would be

unlikely to act on the findings of the study.

 

In 2001, Ivol - who lives in Orkney - was charged with intent to supply

cannabis after it emerged that she baked chocolates with cannabis in them

and sent them to fellow sufferers to relieve their pain. Ivol was expected

to stand trial in 2003 but the case was dropped when the Crown decided not

to proceed because of Ivol’s poor health. She then attempted suicide in

protest at her treatment.

 

She said: " It’s very good news to hear that there is the possibility of a

new development in fighting cancer. But it really is getting more and more

ridiculous. There are all these trials and pieces of research which find out

all kinds of things but they won’t legalise cannabis.

 

" It could be used to treat hundreds of things and it is legal in other

European countries.

 

" Why are we holding out in this country? "

 

Doug Keil, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said

that officers were not opposed to the development of medicines based on

cannabis but warned that smoking the drug was still an offence.

 

Cannabis-based sprays are also under development but MS sufferers claim that

until the sprays are ready to be marketed they should be allowed access to

cannabis to ease their chronic pain.

 

 

 

 

 

Left-Handed Drivers Safer Than Right

 

By Peter Woodman, Transport Correspondent, PA News

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3347017

 

Left-handers drive more safely but are poorer parkers than right handers.

 

Right-handed drivers under the age of 25 are almost twice as likely to cause

an accident that left-handers of the same age group.

 

And male right-handers are 17% more likely to have had an accident that was

their fault than left-handers, a survey from motor insurance company First

Alternative found.

 

But up to the age of 35, nearly twice as many left-handers as right-handers

admitted to having nudged another car while parking.

 

And female left-handers are around 30% more likely to have nudged another

car while parking than female right-handers.

 

Commenting on the accident rate, Colin Batabyal, chief executive of First

Alternative said: “We were very interested to see the discrepancies among

drivers.

 

“One reason could be that changing gear should be easier and more natural

for a left-handed driver so in theory less distracting, particularly for

learner or young drivers.”

 

On the parking statistics, Mr Batabyal said: “We were very surprised at

these results as left-handedness is supposed to indicate better spatial

awareness and so we expected left-handers to be better parkers.”