Children from the Lab

May 12, 2004

Program by Silvia Matthies

Cameramen  Jochen Klemm, Peter Carstiuc, Sergej Koschinskij

Production Bayerischen Rundfunks

2004

In Eastern Europe, there are hardly any discussions about ethical and medical consequences of embryonic stem cell (ESC) research.  Liberal legislation means the permissive environment.   

Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.  Birth control pills are still not popular among the local women. They are too expensive for low-income families, and abortion remains the most popular birth control method, as it was under Communism.  Here, in Kiev, ESC are already being administered to the patients coming from all over the world to be treated by Prof. Alexander I. Smikodub.  His center, named EmCell, specializes in stem cell therapy.  Numerous patents embellish the Professor’s room, among them Ukrainian, U.S., and Dutch ones.  ESC are used for treatment of neurological disorders, diabetes, cancer, and many other diseases.  Professor Smikodub willingly shows sancta sanctorum – cryopreserved ESC, stored in special cooling vessels.  These cells were obtained from aborted material.  In its work, EmCell uses 4-8 weeks old embryonic and fetuses, and this is the stage when the yet unborn baby has almost developed.  

ESC were administered to a patient from Great Britain.  Lawrence Finestone suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and came to EmCell for treatment.  This treatment is expensive, but on the second day, he felt the difference – his gait improved. 

Lawrence Finestone

- I feel better and stronger every day.  Of course, even with this therapy, I am not expecting the full recovery.  These cells do not have side effects.  This is not regular medication, but a fully natural product administered into the body.  I think that all the problems connected with the rejection can be explained by the fact that the cells used in the past originated from the blood, but now it is a fully natural product, without any side effects. 

In EmCell lab, stem cells are differentiated and prepared. International scientific community argues about the issue of transplant rejection. What does the Professor do to avoid this?

Professor A. I. Smikodub

- ESC used by EmCell are 4-8 weeks old.  They either do not express any antigen, or this expression is very weak.  They do not cause any immune conflict, which means no rejection.  The body tolerates ESC as its own cells. 

- ESC administration provides for instant formation of tolerance mechanism in the body of the recipient, meaning the cells are not rejected.  That is why ESC therapy does not require immune suppression that is both harmful for the patient and can cause exacerbation of the main disease. 

Only stem cell researchers can answer the question whether this incomprehensible therapy really helps.  However, many patients swear by Professor Smikodub’s therapy, and some of them come from as far as USA to treat their severely ill children.  James and his mother came for the second time.  The boy is 14 years old, and he is in the wheelchair.  His diagnosis is DMD. But why doesn’t his mother take him for ESC treatment in the U.S.?

Karen Rossetti

- Presently, ESC therapy hardly exists at home, in America.  President Bush banned financing of the cell therapy, having explained his decision by ethical principles regarding stem cells’ originating from aborted embryos and fetuses.  Here, in Ukraine, it is absolutely legal. 

- Are you sure that this therapy is successful?

- Absolutely!  Were it ineffective, we would have never invested our time and money and would have never come here from America.

Professor Smikodub justifies the high price by stating that preparation of ESC is a costly process.  Other than treatment of incurable diseases, there is another source of income – anti-aging therapy, so to say, rejuvenation with a help of ESC. 

- We have a number of patients who come for anti-aging therapy, and we proved to be really effective.  A person who has received this treatment changes greatly: new perception of the world, new feeling for life, and new outlook. But the main thing here is that s/he becomes stronger and happier.  No tiredness, smoothened wrinkles, better general condition, improved work of internal glands etc. – these are the major effects.  Man report increased testosterone level.  Administration of ESC results in excellent lifting, and it is more effective than any plastic surgery: the skin tightens, nothing “hangs”, and wrinkles smoothen. 

Many American patients express a wish for anti-aging course in EmCell, some of them arriving on their own airplanes.  Anyway, Professor Smikodub is confident about the success of his ESC therapy for severe diseases.  We are asking Professor Schoeler, one of the most famous German stem cell researches, to explain the fact that the patients’ condition already improves after several days of treatment.

Prof. Hans Schoeler, Max-Plank Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Muenster

 - If what they say is real, I would say it is fascinating… I cannot imagine this.  What is being done? How are the cells separated?  How are they administered?  What do patients really feel on days 1, 2, and 3?  Is long-term research really necessary?  Should the general public get involved?  Unfortunately, the word “charlatan” is often used…, and that is why there is no interest in presentation of the results of such research.   As for scientific approach, we really need to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

- The Professor from Kiev states that rejection never occurs in his patients.  Can you explain this?

- As far as I know, this is achieved by immune tolerance procedure, but this is something really unimaginable.  Of course, it could be something groundless, like therapeutic cloning.

Therapeutic cloning attracted interest all over the world.  Two Korean researches cloned human embryo following the method used for Dolly: they implanted autologous cells into anucleated egg cells, which resulted in the development of human clone used for separation of an egg cell line.  Research also showed the possibility of creating stem cell depot.  Reporter for the research group emphasized this as a breakthrough in Transplantology. 

- From stem cells produced this way, it is possible to grow any kind of tissue that will not be rejected by the immune system. Difficult part of therapeutic cloning is reprogramming of the cell whose life cycle should be reverted.