Archbishop of Sydney

Stem Cell Grant

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
30/3/2008

Could we one day use teeth to help treat people who have had strokes?

The question is not as bizarre as it sounds. Not so long ago the placenta and cord blood which came with a new baby were treated as waste. Today they are valued as a rich source of adult stem cells, from which scientists are developing dramatic treatments for a wide range of injuries and illnesses.

Stem cells come from a number of sources. Through IVF or cloning, human embryos are being created and destroyed every day to extract stem cells in pursuit of cures. So far no one has been able to control the tendency of such embryonic stem cells to form tumours rather than organs or tissue, and no significant cures have yet been developed from them.  

Adult stem cells, however, are taken from the patient’s own body, and do not involve the destruction and trade in human life that is a part of embryonic stem cell work. They do not form tumours and there is no rejection problem, because the patient’s body recognises the cells as its own. Indeed, scientists now think that adult stem cells may have all the positive properties of embryonic stem cells.

In short, adult stem cells pose none of the serious ethical or clinical problems that human embryonic stem cells raise. Adult stem cells are also offering the best prospects of treatments.

All of which brings us back to using teeth to treat strokes.

Adult stem cells come from all parts of the body. Associate Professor Stan Gronthos from the Hanson Institute in Adelaide was discussing this one day with a colleague, when a question arose about whether stem cells can also be found in teeth. As it turns out, the dental pulp in teeth does indeed contain them.

As a result, Professor Gronthos and Dr Simon Koblar from the University of Adelaide are now leading a research team to see whether dental pulp stem cells can be developed into brain cells to help in the treatment of people who have had strokes.

I know a little bit about this fascinating research project because last year it won the Archdiocese of Sydney’s $100,000 grant to support adult stem cell research in Australia.

This is the third grant the Archdiocese has made. In 2003 it was awarded to Professor Alan Mackay-Sim of Griffith University to see whether adult stem cells from the nose could be used to treat Parkinson’s disease. In 2005 Dr Pritinder Kaur of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute received a grant to investigate whether adult stem cells can help regenerate human skin after catastrophic burns. 

The Catholic Church doesn’t just preach about ethical medical research. It also  practises it in its hospitals and research centres and backs it with dollars.