The genomic revolution was also discussed as part of the conference's scientific sessions. Dr Robert Lanza described his work in the field of organ regeneration in a session chaired by Dr Colin Pouton on September 13
There was now an opportunity to eliminate the shortage of donor organs for the thousands of patients on transplant waiting lists, Dr Robert Lanza told conference participants.
By placing a somatic cell of the organ to be cloned under the membrane of an egg which had had its chromosomes removed, it was possible to trick the egg into dividing and subsequently producing an embryo. This technology had been used in a number of different animal species including non-human primates.
Some newspaper reports had warned of the dangers of cloned species ageing prematurely. This was important for human diseases as it was crucial that organs, once transplanted, did not fail too soon.
Telomeres were regions at the end of chromosomes that shortened over the life of a cell. By cloning cells from animals at the end of their life cycle and analysing the resulting telomeres it was possible to study the ageing effects of cloning. It was found that the cloned telomeres were restored and were actually longer that their age matched controls. From these experiments it might be inferred that the cloning procedure lengthened the life span of the cell.
The history of xenotransplantation had been dismal. Most cases had resulted in rejection of the organ. This occurred because humans had preformed antibodies against proteins present in foreign tissues. New technology would allow the genes for these proteins to be precisely targeted and the offending antigen knocked out. It was possible to select cells of a certain type from cultures and to grow pure populations of cells. This meant genetically compatible cells could be generated and and reintroduced into organs and by using a synthetic, biodegradable scaffold to grow cells it was possible to re-engineer tissues and organs.
But it was still necessary to learn how to persuade undifferentiated cells to develop into the required cell types. Cells tended to do what they wanted but by using growth factors it was possible to manipulate undifferentiated cells to turn into the cell type that was wanted.
Progress in this field was rapid and certain agents had been found that could influence cells to become neurons or cardiomyocytes depending on the stage of the development process at which they were added.