Guangzhou Institute to Play Key Role in China's Stem Cell

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 001266 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM HHS PASS TO FIC/NIH E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO CH SUBJECT: Guangzhou Institute to Play Key Role in China's Stem Cell Research Strategy GUANGZHOU 00001266 001.2 OF 002 (U) This document is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and HEALTH - in association with institutions in Shanghai and Beijing - will play a key role in China's national stem cell research strategy. Once limited by virtue of resources that could be expended, GIBH and others in China could now be in the forefront of more cost effective stem cell research. End summary. New National Work Plan for Stem Cell Research -------------- ¶2. (U) The Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and HEALTH (GIBH),in association with research institutions in Beijing and Shanghai, will play a key role in China's national strategy for stem cell research, according to local media reports. On November 23, more than 50 Chinese scientists from leading stem cell research institutes met in Beijing for three days to develop a national work plan that will allow them to capitalize on new stem cell technology that can reprogram human skin cells into stem cells, also known as the induced pluripotent cells. GIBH Deputy Director Professor Pei Duanqing, who attended the meeting, described the new technology as the start of "a new epoch in human history". GIBH and institutes in Beijing and Shanghai have been asked to share their resources, acquire new technology and pass it on to other institutes. ¶3. (U) Chinese researchers were motivated in large part by recent breakthroughs made by the U.S. and Japan researchers on reprogramming skin cells into stem cells, a process known as induced pluripotent cells, which uses simple and cost-effective molecular cloning techniques. The breakthrough opens new opportunities for Chinese researchers who were previously limited due to inadequate resources. GIBH Well Positioned to Build on Recent Advances -------------- --- ¶4. (SBU) GIBH, which has strong basic and applied molecular biology techniques, is well positioned to take advantage of the new cost-effective stem cell technologies. GIBH Director Chen Ling told us that the institute was founded after the SARS outbreak, which originated in Guangdong, to strengthen China's biomedical research and development capability particularly in infectious diseases. It was established jointly by the Chinese Academy of Science, Guangdong Provincial Government, and Guangzhou Municipal Government in 2005 with a combined initial investment of RMB 300 million (about US$40 million). The founding director, Ling Chen, is a U.S.-trained scientist with academic and industrial experience who recruited more than 20 principal investigators from diverse disciplines. ¶5. (SBU) The South China Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regeneration Medicine is the stem cell research unit of GIBH and is headed by GIBH Deputy Director Pei. The stem cell research institute, in the Guangzhou Science Park, has three principal investigators and close to 20 technical staff. GIBH Director Chen said the institute is building a permanent campus in the nearby Nansha Development Zone; the new facility will be equipped with a stem cell bank and laboratories capable of using the methods published by the U.S. and Japan researchers. According to the GIBH website, the research agenda of the stem cell research institute covers a wide range of activities, including the maintenance of pluripotency in stem cells, the mechanism of stem cell differentiation and cell-cycle control, neural stem cells, stem cell biochemistry and technology platform, as well as nuclear reprogramming of somatic cells. Conference Showcases Chinese Stem Cell Progress -------------- -- ¶6. (U) Stem cell research began in China in the 1990s but has recently attracted more attention from the international research community. On November 6-9, the U.S.-based International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR),along with five major stem cell research institutes from China, jointly organized the 2007 Shanghai International Stem Cell Research Conference. It was the first time ISSCR sponsored a conference other than its own annual meeting. It was also the first major international conference on stem cell research to be held in China. The meeting brought together nearly 500 participants from more than 20 countries. ONE of the objectives was to showcase the progress made by Chinese stem cell researchers. Of the 57 scientists who made presentations at the conference, 33 were Chinese. Additional information on the Shanghai conference can be found at http://www.chinastemcell.org.cn/2007SIS/einde x.asp. GUANGZHOU 00001266 002.2 OF 002 GOLDBERG