Kevin Eggan

Last updated
Kevin Eggan
Born1974
Normal, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Known for stem cell
Scientific career
Institutions Harvard University
Doctoral advisor Rudolf Jaenisch

Kevin Eggan (born 1974 in Normal, Illinois [1] ) is a Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University, known for his work in stem cell research (also known as "therapeutic cloning"), and as a spokesperson for stem cell research in the United States. He was a 2006 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes nicknamed the "genius grant"). [2] In 2005, he was named to the MIT Technology Review TR35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35. [3]

Contents

Biography

Background and education

Eggan grew up in Normal, Illinois, the son of Chris and Larry Eggan and one of five children, [4] his father being a math professor at Illinois State University. [5]

After completing his bachelor's degree in microbiology at the University of Illinois, he applied to medical school to become a doctor, but his doubts caused him to defer in favor of a two-year internship with drug company Amgen [1] at the National Institutes of Health. In 1998 he applied to study for a Ph.D. in biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, arriving there shortly after Dolly the Sheep gained worldwide attention as the world's first cloned domestic animal. [1]

Eggan began to explore both this process and also the reasons that cloned animals often appeared to develop abnormally, with organ defects and immunological problems – his first contact with stem cell research. After finishing his PhD in 2002, Eggan split his time between a post-doctoral program with genetics pioneer Rudolf Jaenisch and a collaborative project with Richard Axel, a Nobel Prize–winning scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, as well as spending time at the University of Hawaii.

Stem cell research

In August 2004, Eggan moved to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a junior fellow, becoming an assistant professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology at their Stem Cell Institute ("HSCI") in 2005. [1] At the time, stem cell research in the United States was threatened by political pressure due to concerns over the ethics of human embryo research, and research such as this was at risk of potentially being made illegal. Federal funding for stem cell research had recently been removed, and part of his role was to obtain private funding to replace it. [1] Eggan took on a second role as the assistant investigator for Stowers Institute for Medical Research, a philanthropical medical research group in Kansas City, Missouri. [6]

Eggan's research goals at Harvard were to understand how nuclear transplantation works, and to make stem cells that carry genes for specific diseases such as Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), and Alzheimer's. [7] [8] In 2006, following "more than two years of intensive ethical and scientific review", two groups of scientists at HSCI were granted permission to explore Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer techniques to create disease-specific stem cell lines as an approach to various currently incurable conditions. Eggan was in charge of one of these two groups and senior author of their results; [9] a renowned co-director of HSCI ran the other. [10] The groups initially collaborated in researching diabetes before Eggan's group switched to work on neurodegenerative diseases. [10] Harvard President Lawrence Summers called the approvals "a seminal event". [10]

Eggan also served as the Chief Scientific Officer of The New York Stem Cell Foundation.

Work to date

Eggan's work as of 2007 has succeeded in developing a technique of merging stem and skin cells that has obtained considerable public attention as a possible avenue to avoid moral objections regarding stem cell research in the context of serious illness. It suggests that ultimately, treatment of serious illnesses and understanding of stem cell development may be possible to obtain without recourse to human embryos – a highly desirable state of affairs politically, given the concurrent controversy over stem cell research in the United States.

Eggan's team reported that they had created cells similar to human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos, a major step toward someday possibly defusing the central objection to stem cell research. [9] [11] [12] These discoveries sparked extensive debate in the United States Congress, with opponents of the use of embryonic stem cells from fetuses arguing that these or similar methods of creating stem cells from skin might be eventually used instead to satisfy the conflicting demands of medical research and morals. [13]

"Eggan's technique provides a window into exactly what happens to turn back the clock in cells during cloning--and, indeed, in the normal process of creating sperm, eggs and embryos. Somehow, aging is reversed, and old cells become young again. As Schatten puts it, the one-way freeway of life has an exit ramp. Understanding what happens when the cell is reprogrammed is one of the main goals of studying embryonic stem cells. But right now, the only way to solve that problem is to clone embryos, which is a difficult and expensive process. [14]

Eggan himself is cautious about his team's work, with an early stage 2005 profile in Nature noting there was still much work to do:

The hybrids still contain two nuclei: one from a skin cell and one from an embryonic stem cell. So they have an abnormally high amount of DNA, and Eggan needs to work out how to remove the embryonic stem cell's DNA. Eggan adds that he has only just begun working with the hybrids, so it is not clear what they will or won't be able to do. "It's frustrating," Eggan says, "because they're implying that our work is a solution, which it is not yet. These are ideas in their most nascent stages." [13]

Work as spokesperson

Forbes noted in Eggan's 2007 profile that:

"Eggan is also becoming one of science's more outspoken voices, defending the necessity of pursuing embryonic cell research through all available means as a way of understanding scourges [such as degenerative diseases]." [12]

Publications

Eggan's five most highly cited publications are:

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly (sheep)</span> First cloned mammal (1996–2003)

Dolly was a female Finn-Dorset sheep and the first mammal that was cloned from an adult somatic cell. She was cloned by associates of the Roslin Institute in Scotland, using the process of nuclear transfer from a cell taken from a mammary gland. Her cloning proved that a cloned organism could be produced from a mature cell from a specific body part. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first animal to be cloned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human cloning</span> Creation of a genetically identical copy of a human

Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. The possibilities of human cloning have raised controversies. These ethical concerns have prompted several nations to pass laws regarding human cloning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stem cell</span> Undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialized cells

In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell in a cell lineage. They are found in both embryonic and adult organisms, but they have slightly different properties in each. They are usually distinguished from progenitor cells, which cannot divide indefinitely, and precursor or blast cells, which are usually committed to differentiating into one cell type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somatic cell nuclear transfer</span> Method of creating a cloned embryo by replacing the egg nucleus with a body cell nucleus

In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking an denucleated oocyte and implanting a donor nucleus from a somatic (body) cell. It is used in both therapeutic and reproductive cloning. In 1996, Dolly the sheep became famous for being the first successful case of the reproductive cloning of a mammal. In January 2018, a team of scientists in Shanghai announced the successful cloning of two female crab-eating macaques from foetal nuclei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embryonic stem cell</span> Type of pluripotent blastocystic stem cell

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells. Isolating the inner cell mass (embryoblast) using immunosurgery results in destruction of the blastocyst, a process which raises ethical issues, including whether or not embryos at the pre-implantation stage have the same moral considerations as embryos in the post-implantation stage of development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homeobox protein NANOG</span> Mammalian protein found in humans

Homeobox protein NANOG(hNanog) is a transcriptional factor that helps embryonic stem cells (ESCs) maintain pluripotency by suppressing cell determination factors. hNanog is encoded in humans by the NANOG gene. Several types of cancer are associated with NANOG.

The stem cell controversy is the consideration of the ethics of research involving the development and use of human embryos. Most commonly, this controversy focuses on embryonic stem cells. Not all stem cell research involves human embryos. For example, adult stem cells, amniotic stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells do not involve creating, using, or destroying human embryos, and thus are minimally, if at all, controversial. Many less controversial sources of acquiring stem cells include using cells from the umbilical cord, breast milk, and bone marrow, which are not pluripotent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolf Jaenisch</span> German biologist

Rudolf Jaenisch is a Professor of Biology at MIT and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He is a pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisch has focused on creating genetically modified mice to study cancer, epigenetic reprogramming and neurological diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miodrag Stojković</span>

Miodrag Stojković is a Serbian researcher in genetics with the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University. He holds a PhD from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. As of January 2006, he is serving as a deputy director and head of Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Lanza</span> American medical doctor and scientist

Robert Lanza is an American medical doctor and scientist, currently Head of Astellas Global Regenerative Medicine, and Chief Scientific Officer of the Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He is an Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

In bioethics, the ethics of cloning concerns the ethical positions on the practice and possibilities of cloning, especially of humans. While many of these views are religious in origin, some of the questions raised are faced by secular perspectives as well. Perspectives on human cloning are theoretical, as human therapeutic and reproductive cloning are not commercially used; animals are currently cloned in laboratories and in livestock production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Kiessling</span> American reproductive biologist involved in stem cell research

Ann Kiessling is an American reproductive biologist and a researcher in human parthenogenic stem cell research at The Bedford Research Foundation. She was an associate professor in teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School from 1985 until 2012.

Stem cell laws are the law rules, and policy governance concerning the sources, research, and uses in treatment of stem cells in humans. These laws have been the source of much controversy and vary significantly by country. In the European Union, stem cell research using the human embryo is permitted in Sweden, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Greece, Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands; however, it is illegal in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal. The issue has similarly divided the United States, with several states enforcing a complete ban and others giving support. Elsewhere, Japan, India, Iran, Israel, South Korea, China, and Australia are supportive. However, New Zealand, most of Africa, and most of South America are restrictive.

Stem cell laws and policy in the United States have had a complicated legal and political history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Q. Daley</span> Medical academic

George Quentin Daley is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He was formerly the Robert A. Stranahan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Boston Children's Hospital, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Associate Director of Children's Stem Cell Program, a member of the Executive Committee of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is a past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (2007–2008).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partial cloning</span> Method in cell biology

In the field of cell biology, the method of partial cloning (PCL) converts a fully differentiated old somatic cell into a partially reprogrammedyoung cell that retains all the specialised functions of the differentiated old cell but is simply younger. The method of PCL reverses characteristics associated with old cells. For example, old, senescent, cells rejuvenated by PCL are free of highly condensed senescence-associated heterochromatin foci (SAHF) and re-acquire the proliferation potential of young cells. The method of PCL thus rejuvenates old cells without de-differentiation and passage through an embryonic, pluripotent, stage.

Shoukhrat Mitalipov is an American biologist who heads the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. He is a well known pioneer of many nuclear transplantation studies and was named in 2013 by journal Nature as "the cloning chief". Mitalipov is also a godfather of a gene therapy, known as mitochondrial replacement therapy, that prevents inheritance of mitochondrial diseases. He discovered a new way of creating human stem cells from skin cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yi Zhang (biochemist)</span> Chinese-American biochemist

Yi Zhang is a Chinese-American biochemist who specializes in the fields of epigenetics, chromatin, and developmental reprogramming. He is a Fred Rosen Professor of Pediatrics and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, a senior investigator of Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is also an associate member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, as well as the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is best known for his discovery of several classes of epigenetic enzymes and the identification of epigenetic barriers of SCNT cloning.

The Hwang affair, or Hwang scandal, or Hwanggate, is a case of scientific misconduct and ethical issues surrounding a South Korean biologist, Hwang Woo-suk, who claimed to have created the first human embryonic stem cells by cloning in 2004. Hwang and his research team at the Seoul National University reported in the journal Science that they successfully developed a somatic cell nuclear transfer method with which they made the stem cells. In 2005, they published again in Science the successful cloning of 11 person-specific stem cells using 185 human eggs. The research was hailed as "a ground-breaking paper" in science. Hwang was elevated as "the pride of Korea", "national hero" [of Korea], and a "supreme scientist", to international praise and fame. Recognitions and honours immediately followed, including South Korea's Presidential Award in Science and Technology, and Time magazine listing him among the "People Who Mattered 2004" and the most influential people "The 2004 Time 100".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Hanna</span> Israeli Arab researcher in molecular biochemistry

JacobH. Hanna is a Palestinian Arab-Israeli biologist who is working as a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. An expert in embryonic stem cell research, he is most recognized for developing the first bona fide and complete synthetic embryos from stem cells in the petri dish in mice and humans.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Andrew Rimas (2006-07-03). "Biologist Kevin Eggan: He sees stem cells as a solution". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  2. 1 2 "B-N native awarded MacArthur 'genius' grant". Associated Press via pantagraph.com. 2006-09-19.
  3. ↑ "2005 Young Innovators Under 35". Technology Review. 2005. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  4. ↑ https://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/07/03/he_sees_stem_cells_as_a_solution/ - "four sisters and a brother.
  5. ↑ B-N native awarded MacArthur 'genius' grant
  6. ↑ Gina Kolata (2004-08-24). "Stem Cells: Promise, in Search of Results". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 31, 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  7. ↑ "Kevin Eggan: Steps Towards Stemming Disease". Harvard University Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology News. Archived from the original on 2007-07-06. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  8. ↑ Matthew Herper (2007-05-24). "P.C. Stem Cells; Kevin Eggan, 32 Cellular Biologist". Forbes . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  9. 1 2 Ceci Connolly (2005-08-23). "Stem Cell Advance Muddles Debate; Work May Stall Efforts To Lift Research Limits". The Washington Post . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  10. 1 2 3 "Approval granted for Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers to attempt creation of disease-specific embryonic stem cell lines". The Harvard University Gazette. 2006-06-06. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  11. ↑ Gareth Cook; Carey Goldberg (2005-08-22). "Harvard scientists advance cell work; technique doesn't destroy embryos". The Boston Globe . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  12. 1 2 Elisabeth Eaves; Michael Noer (2007-05-24). "The Revolutionaries". Forbes . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  13. 1 2 Erika Check (2004-09-07). "Stem-cell research: The rocky road to success Tackling the legal and ethical minefield associated with human embryonic stem-cell research is not for the faint-hearted". Nature . 437 (7056): 185–186. doi: 10.1038/437185a . PMID   16148905. S2CID   4391808 . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  14. ↑ Matthew Helper (2005-08-23). "Turning Skin Into Stem Cells". Forbes . Archived from the original on January 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  15. ↑ "Kevin Eggan Wins Harold M. Weintraub Grad Student Award". Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  16. ↑ Marissa Newhall (2005-09-13). "'Brilliant' minds honored". USA Today . Retrieved 2007-09-04.
  17. ↑ "Feel the heat!". People Magazine. November 27, 2006. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008.
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