The North East | Archive | 2006 | April | 8
From the archive, first published Saturday 8th Apr 2006.
A TEAM of North-East stem cell scientists are working on a project which could make experimental drug trials safer for humans.
Concerns about the risks undertaken by human guinea pigs during so-called phase one drug trials came to the fore recently when volunteers became dangerously ill.
Six volunteers suffered multiple organ failure when they were given an experimental drug at a hospital in London.
This week, regulators announced they are to place tight restrictions on this kind of trial to protect human volunteers.
But a team of scientists at Durham University, led by Dr Stefan Przyborski, have revealed they are working on ways to produce human tissue from stem cells, which could be used to test new drugs for conditions such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and brain tumours before they are given to people.
This would have two advantages. Not only would it reduce the chances of such a catastrophe happening again, it could also reduce the need to test new drugs on animals.
A company founded in 2002 by Dr Przyborski, called ReInnervate, has a growing reputation in the field of biotechnology.
It is set to play an important role in developing stem cell technology as part of an emerging sector in the North-East's economy.
The company develops tools to enable research into stem cell biology which may ultimately lead to new ways of diagnosing disease and treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
"Stem cell technology offers an opportunity to create sizeable amounts of human tissue which can be worked on in the lab," said Dr Przyborski.
"In this way it should be possible to do lab tests on human tissue, rather than humans," he added.
ReInnervate plans to use ethically- approved stem cell technology, which uses tissue derived from embryos and from tumours to grow a consistent supply of nerve cells in the laboratory.
"By making brain nerve cells that are as functionally normal as possible, our technology means that scientists will now be able to study the effects of drugs in a meaningful way and develop new drugs and diagnostic tests with more confidence," said Dr Przyborski.
ReInnervate's reputation has grown out of its collaboration with Durham University and a combination of expertise in chemistry and biology.
Last week, the Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences, the developmental agency backed by One North-East, announced it had secured £450,000 of funding to support the work of ReInnervate.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008