# data[].attributes.body
It is both a positive and negative that our law is lagging, it just depends what stakeholder perspective you are looking at the topic from

# data[].attributes.body
Other countries benefiting from stem cell research.

# data[].attributes.body
When the laws will be amended to better suit the advancements in technology and research surrounding stem cell therapy

# data[].attributes.body
Why is it still not 'safe' even though we are advanced enough to know

# data[].attributes.body
Patients who could potentially benefit from stem cell research would not be happy that it's not legal in Australia but it is in other countries.

# data[].attributes.body
Australian patients are suffering as a result of the lag in the law

# data[].attributes.body
How we could research possible issues that could occur as result of stem cell therapy

# data[].attributes.body
If stem cell research was legal it could help a large number of Australians.

# data[].attributes.body
Why is the Australian legislation lagging.

# data[].attributes.body
Legislation, ethics and public views are holding stem cell therapy from being legal.

# data[].attributes.body
Australian legislation is lagging

# data[].attributes.body
The opinion of the legal issue changes depending on the person.

Someone who doesn't have any serious disabilities which could be fixed by stem cell research, such as blindness are less likely to be pushing for amendments to the legislation compared to someone who has a condition that could potentially be fixed by stem cells.

There are a number of people who do not condone any experimentation with human embryo's due to conflicts with religion and ethics.

# data[].attributes.body
Prohibition of Cloning Act 2002 (Cth)

Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 (Cth)

# data[].attributes.body
• The technology is very advanced, but still quite new. Meaning that it can be perceived as 'not safe'. By lagging behind other countries, Australia can let the field develop, while also preventing any (outbreaks within the country).
• Some people consider stem cell transplants as unethical. This is mainly due to the fact that, embryonic stem cell extraction is consider so.
• It denies patients access to new medicinal procedures, that could very well prolong (if not) save their lives.
• There is also the issue with legislation. In other to make stem cell research legal in Australia, changes to the legislation would have to be implemented. There is always a possibility that, someone could hypothetically find a loophole in which other research could also 'become legal.'

# data[].attributes.body
As a country Australia are lagging in stem cell science. We are only just starting to trial embryonic stem cells for common blindness, heart failure, diabetes and spinal injuries.
Australia could be lagging for positive reasons such as; not wanting to rush into it without knowing the effects of what will happen, also they may not want to rush into things because if something goes wrong and they have modified the law to allow for this then they will go under a lot of criticism.

We could also be lagging but not by choice, we may not be advanced enough or have the technology/science to use embryonic stem cells.

# data[].attributes.headline
Is Australia's lag in the law positive or negative? (EM)

# data[].attributes.subject
Is Australia's lag in the law positive or negative? (EM)

# data[].attributes.body
Australia's lag in the law can be considered both positive and negative, depending on the stakeholder perspective.

Scientists/researchers may consider the lag in our law a positive thing, as we are able to learn from the mistakes that other countries have made, and therefore correct them before progressing. Australian researchers are slow to translate discoveries into new therapies, which is ultimately ensuring that we are leaving minimal room for mistakes/errors.This may, in turn, end up being more beneficial for researchers as we may be able to eventually overtake other countries in terms of advancements in technology.

On the other hand, our lag has a negative impact on Australian patients, as our lack of research and knowledge in the area of stem cell therapies is restricting growth in the field of medicine. Patients may opt to seek medical help/therapy from other countries as they are unable to get the therapy they need here in Australia due to the lag in the law and our technology.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discoveries in stem cell science over the past decade are finally starting to reach the clinic. Current clinical trials are evaluating stem cell therapies for conditions ranging from eye disease to AIDS.

These trials are going on in the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and elsewhere. But Australia is lagging behind. While we remain fairly competitive in fundamental research, we are slow to translate our discoveries into new therapies.

This concern was expressed in the Australian Academy of Science report, released today, called The Stem Cell Revolution: Lessons and Imperatives for Australia. It contains a series of recommendations from young research leaders in the field on how Australian science policy can help fast-track stem cell research here.

Researchers are often asked by patients or their relatives when stem cell treatments will be available for certain medical conditions. Ten years ago, the answer would have been that there are no new treatments yet, but we are working to develop them. Today, we are forced to answer that clinical trials of cell therapies for particular conditions are going on, but not in Australia.

We have an obligation to ensure that Australian patients, their families, carers and physicians are not left behind in the stem cell revolution.

Stem cell therapy

Human embryonic stem cells, which can become cells in any tissue of the body, were first discovered in 1998. Today, embryonic stem cell treatment trials are underway for macular degeneration (a common form of blindness), spinal cord injury, juvenile diabetes and heart failure.

from shutterstock.com

Then there are the induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka discovered, which won him the Nobel Prize in 2012. iPS cells are made from adult tissues and have many of the defining properties of embryonic stem cells. They can be made from skin or blood cells of any person.

After Yamanaka's discovery, Japan's cell therapy regulatory framework was modified to fast-track products from these new stem cells into the clinic. As a consequence, therapies using induced iPS cells, which enable close tissue matching of stem cell transplants to patients to prevent graft rejection, are now in clinical trials there, only ten years after their discovery.

More trials will begin very soon. For instance, years of research on midbrain dopaminergic neurons, the cells lost in Parkinson's disease, has paved the way for upcoming trials of stem cells replacing these lost neurons.

There are also a large number of human trials in progress using mesenchymal stem cells, which are extracted from bone marrow, fat or other tissues. Capable of modulating the immune system and inflammatory response, these stem cells have the potential ability to treat arthritis, autoimmune disorders, graft versus host disease in bone marrow transplant patients, and a number of other conditions.

Neural stem cells derived from either foetal or adult brain tissue are also undergoing testing in humans, for rare inherited disorders of the brain or more common conditions including spinal cord injury.

It's unlikely these early stage trials will produce cures for any of these conditions. Indeed they might pose as many questions as they answer. But it is essential and significant that these trials are moving forward, because the lessons we learn from them will guide us towards the design of the next generation of cellular therapeutics.

Gene therapy and drug discovery

Today, genetic modification of stem cells with precision can provide cell therapies that can permanently correct serious genetic disorders.

UCI UC Irvine/Flickr, CC BY

For years, progress in gene therapy was almost totally blocked by safety concerns around the relatively crude technologies for introducing genetic alterations into patient cells. But technological advances have enabled precise correction of genetic defects within a cell. This avoids off-target modifications that can cause cancers and other serious toxicities.

New treatments using combined gene and cell therapy are undergoing trials now. The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine lists about ten new human studies, including in AIDS, blood diseases and cancer.

Then there is a third stream of stem cell research that, although perhaps less visible to the general public, has implications well beyond cell therapy.

This is the ability to derive pluripotent stem cells from patients with genetic predisposition to disease, or to introduce disease mutations into stem cells via gene editing. We can then use these disease-specific stem cell lines to generate the cell types affected in a particular disorder to study what goes wrong with them in the lab.

For instance, we can study how a gene that causes epilepsy affects the electrical properties of human nerve cells. Once we develop these cell culture models, we can use them to screen candidate drugs to correct the deficits in the affected cells.

This technology will enable us to reduce dependence on animal models, which don't always replicate human diseases, and will reduce the risk of testing drugs on living human subjects.

These advances have the potential to speed the discovery of new medicines, to rapidly eliminate candidate drugs that might cause toxicity in the clinic, and to save millions from the costs of drug development.

To ensure Australian patients have timely access to new stem cell therapies for intractable diseases, we must maintain our excellence in fundamental stem cell research. But we also need to develop new and better mechanisms to support collaboration between academia, the private sector and philanthropists with the aim of translating discoveries into cures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stem cell therapies are advancing, but will Australian patients be left behind?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discoveries in stem cell science over the past decade are finally starting to reach the clinic. Current clinical trials are evaluating stem cell therapies for conditions ranging from eye disease to AIDS. These trials are going on in the United States, Europe, Canada, Japan and elsewhere. But Australia is lagging behind.