Diabetes researchers at the Prince of Wales Hospital are set to become the first in Sydney to work on controversial human embryonic stem cells.
Professor Bernie Tuch, the director of the hospital's pancreas transplant unit, said that the team had signed an agreement with Melbourne company ES Cell. Professor Tuch said the team would study the ability of the human cells to transform into insulin-producing tissue. This is a line of research they had previously been following using mice embryonic stem cells. He said the controversial cells, which are harvested from excess IVF embryos, offered hope of new treatments for the 100,000 people in Australia with Type 1, or juvenile onset, diabetes.
ES Cell controls the six human embryonic stem cell lines extracted in Singapore by Professor Alan Trounson's Monash University team. Adelaide biotechnology company BresaGen also has four cell lines, which were extracted by its American-based research team. The 10 Australian cell lines are among 64 worldwide that United States authorities have announced are eligible for hundreds of millions of dollars of US federal research funds.
