This Little Piggy's Been Hyped

by Deborah Franklin

Cute, sure. But can he save the world? /istockphoto.com

In headlines this week: Scientists in China say they've managed to turn skin cells from the ears of adult pigs into "pluripotent" stem cells that, theoretically, can be coaxed into becoming any sort of pig tissue.

Dr Lei Xiao, the lead researcher from Shanghai University, told the BBC that the achievement was "entirely new, very important and has a number of applications for both human and animal health."

Interesting, sure. Eventually useful? Maybe. Overhyped? Read on.

In interviews with a wide range of media outlets, including New Scientist, The Times of India, and Medical News Today, Dr. Xiao and others said the new stem cells might eventually offer solutions to the transplanted organ shortage, the obesity epidemic, and swine flu. Yowza!

That's just the sort of highfalutin-claim-cloaked-in-weak-caveats (think Pop Rocks) that attends most mentions of stem cell research these days.

And it's not just the media that's overheated, according to bioethicist Alta Charo.

On a panel last month sponsored by the Milken Institute, Charo complained about the "conspiracy of hype" surrounding stem cells. Never mind venture capitalists. Patients, scientists, and Congress all have an interest in fanning the buzz, too, Charo says. Biopolitical Times got the quote:

We have patient groups who were advocating vociferously for adequate federal funding, since federal funding's really where the action's at; and so really needed to over-promote the near term potential for therapies in order to gain sympathy from members of Congress. Members of Congress needed to score points with not only patient groups but on either side of the abortion debate to show their bonafides to their respective constituencies. And so for those who oppose the research, they would overhype the potential of alternative sources of stem cells other than embryonic

And that's just a start. You can see a video of Charo's remarks (and see how stem cell scientists responded) on the Milken Institute Web site. The hype discussion starts about 26 minutes in.