Stem Cell Research in Russia:The Wild, Wild, Wild East

Moscow Times and Seattle Times spend some time this week on the surreal efforts in Russia to capitalize on stem cell mania among Russians and countless others around the world - all of whom are rushing to Russia to get 'treatments' from stem cell 'labs'. The Moscow Times piece starts in labs that aim at literal immortality - cryo facilities - and moves to an incredibly popular cosmetic adult stem cell procedure, and then concludes with an evaluation of embryonic stem cell work in Russia:

[Gennady Sukhikh] wears an expensive suit, complete with cuff links. He heads a laboratory where one piece of equipment with an unpronounceable name costs $150,000. He has two of them. When I was in Pushchino, the scientists there suggested I ask Sukhikh where he keeps his homogenizer — something like a meat grinder that minces human embryos. So I ask, where’s the homogenizer. The professor says that those are all lies, and starts talking about the laboratory’s scientific achievements. And there certainly are achievements: the 18-22 week-old embryos that Sukhikh works with have differentiated stem cells, meaning that they come from organs that are already formed. Retina cells can treat eye diseases, heart cells can be used to treat heart diseases, etc. The results are amazing, but not a single foreign magazine is willing to publish them, because, Sukhikh says, there is a strict ban in the West against using any aborted materials for clinical tests. It’s called bioethics. Then again, where Sukhikh gets 18-22 week-old embryos in a country where abortions after 12 weeks are illegal is also unclear.

In the professor’s laboratory, a rejuvenation therapy course using fetal cells costs about $8,000. There are 15 shots all at once: intravenously, into the muscle tissue, and under the skin of the stomach. By the way, if you dial the stem cell hotline, after a couple of questions you will be redirected to Sukhikh’s laboratory.

Any clinic using stem cells [in Russia] is acting illegally. Up to this point, the Health Ministry has not issued a single license to use stem cells, only for storage. Doctors say that thanks to stem cell therapy people can now start living up to 120 — without clinical tests we have to take their word for it.