The second hESC-based therapy in development is the hemangioblast platform for treatment of diseases and disorders of the circulatory and vascular system; this therapy, which is currently in the preclinical phase, is being developed by ACT in partnership with the Korean company CHA Biotech.
A third ACT project currently in the preclinical phase is a method of manufacturing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from renewable sources of pluripotent stem cells, which may be useful to repair damaged tissue. A fourth project in the preclinical phase is an effort to develop methods to treat corneal blindness and glaucoma using corneal endothelial cells. Other research focuses of the company include those related to immune rejection and graft-versus-host disease.
In March 2014, ACT announced a breakthrough in its MSC project, by reporting a new technique to regenerate a replenishable population of MSCs from pluripotent stem cells. In a paper in Stem Cells and Development, Kimbrel and colleagues report that the new method can produce far more MSCs than methods based on deriving MSCs from bone marrow, lowering the need to constantly replenish the supply by finding more donors. MSCs, which are currently being evaluated to treat human disease in over 300 clinical trials, have the advantage of evading detection by the recipient’s immune system, and hence do not require the use of immunosuppressive drugs.
As reported by Heidi Ledford in Nature in January 2014, ACT was experiencing financial difficulties and was seeking financing to continue its clinical trials. One source of the difficulties was the payment of $4 million to settle charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that ACT had illegally sold billions of shares of stock. In January 2014, ACT was also sued by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, a company with which ACT has a licensing arrangement, for breach of contract.
Sarah E. Boslaugh
Kennesaw State University
See Also: Clinical Trials, U.S.: Eye Conditions; Embryonic Stem Cells, Methods to Produce; Heart Disease; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Moral Status of Embryos; Retinal Stem Cells.
Further Readings
Advanced Cell Technology: Company Overview [web page]. http://www.advancedcell.com/company/ (Accessed April 14, 2014).
Kimbrel, Erin A., Nicholas A. Kouris, Gregory Yavanian, et al. “Mesenchymal Stem Cell Population Derived From Human Pluripotent Cells Displays Potent Immunomodulatory and Therapeutic Properties.” Stem Cells and Development. Advanced publication ahead of print (March 20, 2014). http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/scd.2013.0554 (Accessed April 14, 2014).
Klimanskaya, Irina, Young Chung, Sandy Becker, et al. “Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived From Single Blastomeres.” Nature, v.444 (November 23, 2006).
Ledford, Heidi. “Stem-Cell Company in Crisis: Financial Woes Threaten Advanced Cell Technology.” Nature.com: News (January 25, 2014). http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cell-company-in-crisis-1.14591 (Accessed April 14, 2014).
Lock, Corie. “Stem-Cell Research: Never Say Die.” Nature.com: News Feature (January 11, 2012). http://www.nature.com/news/stem-cell-research-never-say-die-1.9759 (Accessed April 14, 2014).
Rockoff, Jonathan D. “Stem-Cell Trial Without Embryo Destruction.” The Wall Street Journal (December 13, 2012).
Advocacy
Advocacy
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Advocacy
Advocacy is a term that refers to the action of speaking out for or defending a position or viewpoint, a right or series of rights, or a need for resolution. Advocacy is not only about having a voice or opinion heard; it also hopes to influence an event or resolution on the side for which it is advocating. The advocate may work on behalf of an individual, a group of people, or a community. Advocacy is considered today one of the key actions in the practice of conflict resolution. There are many ways in which conflict between two or several parties can be resolved, depending upon whether the action engaged falls within the model for advocacy, mediation, conciliation, or conflict negotiation. As such, advocacy has been largely used in the fields of social justice, policy decision making, and community empowerment.
As long as there have been disempowered or vulnerable people in need of help and people willing to speak out on their behalf—be it as good Samaritans, religious representatives, intellectuals, or just concerned neighbors and citizens—the practice of advocacy has always existed. The concept of advocacy as a formal process with methods and systems, a series of established approaches, and even professional representation is relatively new. It started to develop in the late 19th century when ideas of people’s rights began to change, along with notions of community care and social justice. The history of advocacy has developed differently in diverse cultural contexts. Some experts, for example, explain that in societies where individuality does not carry the same value that it does in Western cultures, and where there is a stronger emphasis on family and trust, advocacy forms have developed in a more interdependent model. In the United States, advocacy historically has served social justice causes. Antislavery advocates existed long before the Civil War, as did individuals who spoke for the rights of women. A strong voting rights movement has existed from the 19th century to this day, in which American organizations work to protect and broaden voters’ rights through legal means and education.
Advocates speak out not only on behalf of human rights but also of behalf of rights of nonhuman beings. Not even a century ago in the United States, for example, abusing an animal, such as beating it to death, was in most cases acceptable and even legal. Today, however, after more than 100 years of animal rights work by humane treatment advocates, laws mandating ethical treatment of pets, circus animals, laboratory animals, animals meant for food, and even wildlife exist at the state and federal levels. Steady activism begun in the early 19th century has ensured that today there is widespread acceptance that nonhuman animals have moral rights.
Health advocacy also has a long history in the United States, beginning with advocates for dignified treatment for the mentally ill, who until the late 19th century used to have, in effect, very few rights. Health advocates work to represent patients’ rights as well as the community as a whole, striving for transformative change in the health care system, better access to care, protection and expansion of patients’ rights, health education and wellness, and other related issues. At the international level, human rights advocates have been remarkably successful in promoting the enactment of new international laws; ensuring changes in human rights awareness, policies, and practices; and changing the framework of public debate worldwide.
Advocates today come from a wide array of occupations and institutions: the government; the legal, medical, and other professions; disease-specific voluntary organizations, such as the American Heart Association; grassroots organizations; national health policy organizations; environmental and scientific advocate organizations; human rights and all areas of social justice; education and academia; the arts; the media; and many other areas. Advocacy today also plays a significant and expanding role in the sciences. Among the issues debated in reference to science advocacy are the boundaries and contexts of advocacy as applied to science; science advice in policy decision making; the norms, responsibilities,
