Professor Trounson, deputy director of Melbourne's Monash Institute for Reproduction and Development, told journalists that the National Health and Medical Research Council was moving too slowly to keep Australia abreast of United States competition. However, collaboration could be announced shortly involving Australian and Singapore universities backed by corporate finance. Professor Trounson said his research team, working at the National University Hospital in Singapore, had been able to produce mature nerve cells from stem cells of embryos donated by IVF patients.
Stem cells are very early cells which have the capacity to develop into any cell in the body.
Eventually, nerve cell therapies could be developed to treat stroke or restore function to people made paraplegic in a car accident, Professor Trounson said. Other cells that have been grown include human cartilage, skin, bone and teeth. Human embryonic stem cell research was lagging behind cattle research, largely because the dairy industry had been quick to see the benefits, but also because the same ethical constraints did not apply, he said. If Australian researchers were not doing patient clinical trials within five years they would be lagging behind the rest of the world. A partnership involving Singaporean and Australian investors was now being negotiated, he said.