Brazilian researchers have come up against roadblocks in establishing a genetically diverse line of human embryonic stem cells (hES) to serve the therapeutic stem cell transplantation needs of the diverse ethnic and genetic Brazilian population. The report is carried in the current issue of Cell Transplantation.
According to the study's corresponding author, Dr. Lygia V. Pereira of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, pluripotent human embryonic stem cells are an important tool for basic and applied stem cell transplantation research. However, immunocompatibility is an issue, especially in a genetically diverse population such as that in Brazil where the population is comprised of European, African and Native South American ancestry.
In their study, the researchers developed an hES cell line (the first in South America) they called "BR-1" derived from a Brazilian population with embryos donated by couples who had sought assistance from private fertility clinics. Their research was compatible with the 2005 Brazilian national legal, ethical and clinical guidelines for embryonic stem cell research using tissue that had been frozen for the legally mandated time of at least three years, and that had been produced for reproductive reasons.