Stem Cell Research for Alternative Treatment Options

The use of adult stem cells is an alternative option that has been established for decades in the treatment of diseases of the blood. Researchers have successfully isolated cells from a wide range of different organs that are capable of cell division and have a low level of differentiation. They can develop into different types of cells. These precursor or stem cells are responsible for natural regeneration and repair processes in the body.

Human embryonic stem cell lines, which were first isolated in 1998, have attracted much more attention in the debate because, unlike adult stem cells, they have the potential to develop into all types of cells. However, human embryonic stem cells can currently only be obtained by destroying human embryos. This is not allowed in Germany under the Embryo Protection Act.

However, research has shown that important medical research goals can be achieved in other ways than by obtaining embryonic stem cells.

National funding

The BMBF recognized the great potential of stem cells for medicine at an early stage and initiated the "Biological Substitution of Organ Functions" funding priority in late 1999. This measure explored the potential of stem cells to treat various economically relevant diseases, such as Parkinson's, diabetes, osteoporosis and heart attacks. The 32 projects received almost €10 million in funding until 2005.

The transition from basic research to clinical application often requires cooperation between various disciplines in the life sciences, medicine and engineering. That is why the "Cell-based regenerative medicine" funding priority was announced in September 2004. Existing know-how in stem cell research was applied and expanded in interdisciplinary collaborative projects, with the aim of coming closer to clinical application. The 47 projects were organized into 10 collaborations and one individual project. The first three-year phase, which started in 2005, received €12.6 million in funding. In 2008, the funding was extended and broadened for a second phase, in which research results are to be moved even closer to clinical application. 57 collaborative projects are currently being funded and will receive a total of €19 million until 2012.

Human embryonic stem cells are used in some of these projects. The Robert Koch Institute has confirmed that embryonic stem cells are needed for the research activities in question, and the research complies with the Embryo Protection Act and the Stem Cell Act.

The high development potential of embryonic stem cells is valuable both for research and for the subsequent clinical application of stem cells. Projects to develop procedures for obtaining cell lines that have the same potential as embryonic stem cells but are not taken from embryos are therefore being funded under the funding priority "Obtaining Pluripotent and Multipotent Stem Cells". In this context, researchers are looking into approaches to the dedifferentiation or reprogramming of adult human or mammal cells as well as into the use of multipotent and pluripotent cells that occur naturally in humans. This kind of work is always in line with the legal provisions, particularly the Embryo Protection Act.  A total of 51 projects are currently being funded under this measure.

Funding amounts to approximately €15 million until 2013.

Projects for the conceptualization and technological realization of tissue regeneration outside the body were funded under the "Tissue Engineering" funding measure. This was established in 2000 and had a total of three funding phases until 2009. About €36 million of federal funding were invested.

The Translational Centres for Regenerative Medicine, which the BMBF has been funding since 2006, focus on the development of innovative therapies to heal or restore diseased tissue and support the natural regeneration of sick and injured organs. The researchers work with stem cells, novel biomaterials and cultivated tissue, among other things. Companies, clinics and research institutions in the region in question work together at the centres. The BMBF supports Translational Centres in Berlin and Leipzig; each of them received €15 million in federal funding for the first, four-year funding period. The second funding period was launched in 2010 with the same funding volume.

Projects using stem cells - as well as many other types of cells and technologies - are funded under the funding measures "Development and validation of methods and procedures of regeneration technology for use in medicine", the "Reference and Translation Centre for Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy" (RCT) and under the bilateral call for proposals on regenerative medicine with the USA/CIRM.

The BMBF provided more than €15 million for "pure" stem cell research in 2011.

German-US American cooperation / CIRM

Regenerative medicine has become a critical part of stem cell research. It harbours the vision of creating new tissue and organs on an individual scale and for universal application. However, a great deal of basic research must still be done to achieve these ambitious goals.

This is why international cooperation between leading global experts is of particular importance. In 2009 the BMBF signed a bilateral agreement with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM; http://www.cirm.ca.gov), a California state research funding agency. The agreement makes it possible for German researchers or research institutions to participate in various CIRM calls for proposals in cooperation with their American colleagues. The first joint research projects started in 2011. Other ambitious research projects will follow.

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