Sanford eyes stem cell study

Sanford Health's effort to become a national research leader soon might take a large step forward, but to do so the health system would bypass a state ban on a controversial method of research.

A new donation from philanthropist T. Denny Sanford will give Sanford Health greater access to embryonic stem cell research, a process that the system's chief executive, Kelby Krabbenhoft, has expressed an interest in pursuing.

It's also a process that is illegal in South Dakota.

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T. Denny Sanford says he will help the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine come up with matching funds for a planned $115 million stem cell research center in La Jolla, Calif. Sanford hasn't said how much he plans to give. The donation has not been formally announced. But the San Diego Union-Tribune reported this month that an "out-of-state philanthropist," whom the consortium has declined to identify, has pledged $30 million, with $10 million paid up-front and the remainder in $2 million annual installments.

The consortium is made up of the Burnham Institute, the Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute and the University of California-San Diego.

The Burnham Institute is a major research partner of Sanford Health, which announced its intention this month to cure Type 1 diabetes within the lifetime of T. Denny Sanford.

Sanford Health chief executive Krabbenhoft said he won't rule out stem cell research. The California connections might offer capabilities that aren't available here in South Dakota, he said.

"There are certain clinical limitations, given our legislature and things like that, but that's why we have the people out in San Diego," Krabbenhoft said.

Embryonic stem cell research is not prohibited in California.

But research using such stem cells is controversial and could turn support against Sanford Health if their quest for a cure for diabetes flouts state laws barring stem cell research.

"I think it (would) hurt their ability to attract support to some degree, because there are people in South Dakota that believe that embryonic stem cell research is wrong," Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard said.

Burnham one of 6 U.S. centers doing embryonic stem cell study

Embryonic stem cells have the potential to develop into almost all of the tissues in the body. Researchers contend that stem cells could hold the key to potential therapies for diseases from diabetes to Alzheimer's.

Sanford, the chairman of Sioux Falls-based holding company United National Corp., said he sees potential in those studies.

"It's so exciting what they are already doing with stem cells," Sanford said last week.

He emphasized that Sanford Health won't directly be involved with the new donation.

"Sanford Health is not involved in it in any way; this is separate from them," Sanford said. "Sanford Health is not part of that consortium."

But the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla is, and Sanford last November announced a $20 million donation over the next five years to that institute. The money is now being used to create a Sanford Children's research center in La Jolla as well as a research center here in Sioux Falls.

Burnham has been involved in stem cell research for years, both human adult and embryonic. Burnham's center for neuroscience, aging and stem cell research is one of six centers nationwide designated for federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

The Burnham collaboration opens up the possibility for Sanford to access the technology outside South Dakota.

"Once (the Burnham partnership) was something that became a real possibility, that was a small leap for me from Point A to Point B on the issues that are restricted here in South Dakota," Krabbenhoft said.

Burnham spokeswoman Andrea Moser said the organization wouldn't comment until the donation was made official. The consortium's vice chairman, Louis Coffman, did not return requests for comment.

Ban might limit ability to attract leading scientists to state

Embryonic stem cell research has been controversial nationwide.

Some say the practice destroys a human life, and South Dakota is one of several states that bans it.

The state in 2000 banned anyone from knowingly conducting "nontherapeutic research that destroys a human embryo" or research that subjects an embryo to "substantial risk of injury or death." Engaging in such research can result in a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

The law also bans anyone from using for research purposes "cells or tissues that the person knows were obtained" through embryonic stem cell research.

Kermit Staggers, a Sioux Falls city councilman, was a sponsor of the 2000 stem cell bill in the South Dakota House of Representatives. The law sends a strong message that conducting embryonic stem cell research is not appropriate here, Staggers said.

"It's important that we have that kind of message being sent here," he said. "We can only pass laws that deal with South Dakota ... I wish California had a similar law, but they don't."

Milton Schrader of Alexandria, who has Type 2 diabetes, said he is opposed to embryonic stem cell research on the basis of his Christian faith.

"There are other methods that would not involve taking the life of a human embryo," Schrader said.

But Sara Weber of Sioux Falls, mother of a toddler with juvenile diabetes, says her experience has changed her opinion.

She was opposed to stem cell research until her son was diagnosed with the disease and she learned that the research might hold promise for a cure.

"It changes everything; nobody could have told me that," Weber said of the recent diagnosis of her son, Drew. "That's the whole thing about going through it firsthand. Whatever you have to go through firsthand will totally color your attitude."

South Dakota's existing ban could hinder recruiting scientists here, said University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan.

"It does make for a kind of inefficient research situation," he said.

The state of Pennsylvania is in a similar situation, Caplan said, with a ban on any nontherapeutic research on any "unborn child." Pennsylvania's proximity to New Jersey, which has a state-sponsored stem cell research initiative, has caused some Pennsylvania researchers to look at moving to or working with organizations in New Jersey, Caplan said.

"So we're in the middle of something like that ourselves," he said.

Sanford looking at other forms of cell research with Burnham

It's too early to tell how and whether embryonic stem cell research would be part of Sanford's recently announced plan to cure Type 1 diabetes.

Dave Link, executive vice president at Sanford, said last week that embryonic stem cell research is not in any immediate plans for diabetes research with Burnham.

"At this point, our plans don't involve embryonic stem cell research," Link said. "There are a variety of approaches available with stem cells now."

Those other approaches include working with adult stem cells and a newly developed technique that can reprogram adult human skin cells to become stem cells.

Sanford officials have visited stem cell researcher James Thomson at the University of Wisconsin to learn about that technique. Thomson led the group of researchers who successfully isolated the first human embryonic stem cell lines in 1998, and last November his group announced the breakthrough with skin cells.

The technique holds much promise in the scientific world as a way to sidestep the ethical and political dilemmas that surround embryonic stem cell research, Krabbenhoft said.

"One of the sidebar conversations with the activities out at Burnham is the discussion of getting the stem cells out of the skin," he said. "So (with) some of these things, the hullabaloo is going to be muted by science."

Stem cells from skin cells would be a "wonderful solution," Daugaard said.

"The whole ... problem with embryonic stem cells is they come from embryos, and embryos are living persons," he said. "So if one can get stem cells from other means, then do the research that way."

Reach Megan Myers at 331-2257.