University of Utah medical ethics expert Jeffrey R. Botkin has been named chairman of a new nine-member group that will act as a clearinghouse for science research project requests for embryonic stem cells.

Requests for the cells are expected to increase significantly with the lifting of restrictions imposed by the Bush administration on National Institutes of Health research guidelines that all but prohibited embryonic stem cells to be used in scientific research.

Stem cells, which are cells that have the capacity to renew themselves and to differentiate and become many cell types, are found in adults and children. Stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves.

The cells remain controversial because extracting them destroys the embryo. And that makes any discussion of their use turn invariably into a debate about abortion.

Botkin is well-aware of the controversy surrounding the stem cells, but he notes that neither President Barack Obama's nor former President George W. Bush's guidelines allow federal funds to be used in the actual destruction of embryos to get stem cells.

The new guidelines allow the scientific use of embryonic stem cells not used by couples who used in vitro fertilization in order to have children. The Bush administration prohibited taking stem cells from unwanted embryos, hundreds of thousands of which are in fertility clinics around the country.

Most are left over from couples who don't plan on any more children, which means the embryos are simply discarded, Botkin said. The so-called "spare" embryos can be used under the new guidelines, if the couple who produced them gives their full informed consent, he said.

"Stem cells show a lot of promise in medical care because they have the unique capacity to become any tissue type in the human body," said Botkin, a pediatrician and associate vice president for research integrity at the U. "For example, if stem cells can be coaxed into developing into pancreas cells, it may be possible to use them to treat diabetes. This is a very exciting area of biomedical research that offers great promise down the road."

If scientists can better understand the development of stem cells into different body tissues, the more likely the cells can be used to treat a wide variety of diseases associated with aging or cellular degeneration such as cancer.

Botkin, who is chief of the U. School of Medicine's Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities, said he believes he was picked as chairman for two reasons — his extensive background in ethical treatment of subjects involved in medical research, and the lack of potential conflicts of interest at the U. No active research projects are using embryonic stem cells.

Botkin said he can't predict how many requests the board will review, but given the loosening of the restrictions, there are a lot of researchers who see stem cell research as boon to health-care treatment and disease prevention.

"So many are very anxious to move ahead," he said.

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com