Chinese Cloning Firm Pumps $15 Million into California Stem Cell Business

A Chinese firm that says it has the technology to clone human beings has invested $15 million in a stem cell company in Northern California.

The American firm is Cesca Therapeutics of Rancho Cordova, a suburb of Sacramento. The Chinese enterprise is BoyaLife Group, which has plans to clone one million cattle a year by 2020. In December, Rebecca Davis of Agence France-Press interviewed Xu Xiaochun, CEO of BoyaLife, and wrote:

“The Chinese scientist behind the world's biggest cloning factory has technology advanced enough to replicate humans, he told AFP, and is only holding off for fear of the public reaction.”

BoyaLife has a South Korean partner, Sooam, which was founded by Hwang Woo-Suk, the researcher who generated a global scandal in 2005 by falsly claiming to have cloned a human embryo. Sooam is involved currently in cloning pet dogs at $100,000 a pop, according to AFP.

Last year, Cesca lost a bid for $11 million from the California stem cell agency. The president of the firm, Robin C. Stracey, told this writer at the time that it expected to partner with another enterprise rather than try again for California stem cell agency funding.

The company’s application to the state research agency sought funds for a phase three clinical trial for a process to treat critical limb ischemia, which can lead to the loss of limbs.

Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee reported today that financially strapped Cesca could be taken over by BoyaLife. He reported that the company said this week that BoyaLife intended “to become a majority shareholder” in Cesca.

Kasler wrote,

“However, a change in control isn’t imminent, and Cesca officials said they welcome BoyaLife’s investment as a vote of confidence in their company.”

The New York Times reported last November that BoyaLife is planning the world’s largest animal cloning center in China this year. It quoted Xu as saying,

“And I can tell you all that cloned beef is the tastiest beef I have ever had.”

It was not clear, as of this writing, what role, if any, Cesca would have in cloning animals.

Replicating Oregon Cloning in California: Views on the Legality

Oregon's stem cell cloning achievement has triggered some discussion about whether it could be replicated legally in California, which bans paying for eggs as was done in Oregon.

Stanford researcher Irv Weissman said it is “not true” that Oregon's stem cell research would be illegal in California. Leftovers from IVF clinics could be used, he said.

But in response Oregon researcher Shoukhrat Mitalipov said that “SCNT (the process he used) did not work with discarded human eggs.”

He added,

 “SCNT worked with eggs from healthy young volunteers (paid of course). IVF patients (whether paid or not) have reproductive health problems and may not provide acceptable quality eggs for SCNT.” 

Their comments came in emails to the California Stem Cell Report in connection with yesterday's item that said because the Oregon researchers used paid donors for eggs, the research would be illegal in the Golden State.

Weissman said,

 "Not true. They did it with nearly 40 percent efficiency, which does not require paying for eggs, just use leftovers from IVF clinics."

There is no question that it is illegal to pay donors for their eggs in California. The question is whether the research could be done properly without using paid donors. In recent years, researchers at Harvard and elsewhere have said they needed paid donors for stem cell research to properly perform their research and could not find them without providing compensation.

Weissman Says Oregon-style Stem Cell Research Could be Done in California

Stanford researcher Irv Weissman says it is “not true” that Oregon's stem cell research could not be done legally in California.

In a brief email to the California Stem Cell Report, he commented in connection with yesterday's item that said because the Oregon researchers used paid donors for eggs,the research would be illegal in the Golden State.

Weissman said, 

"Not true. They did it with nearly 40 percent efficiency, which does not require paying for eggs, just use leftovers from IVF clinics."

There is no question that it is illegal to pay donors for their eggs in California. The question is whether the research could be done without using paid donors. In recent years, researchers at Harvard and elsewhere have said they needed paid donors to properly perform their research and could not find them without providing compensation.

We have queried Shoukhrat Mitalipov in Oregon concerning his views on Weissman's comments. We welcome other comments as well. Comments can be filed directly by clicking on the word "comment" at the end of this item or you can email them to djensen@californiastemcellreport.com. 

We should also note the comment from researcher Paul Knoepfler of UC Davis who notes that SCNT cloning is permissible in California, which is what was done in Oregon. The state does ban reproductive cloning, however.

Coverage of the Cloning of the Cells of Sam Wood

While CIRM was advancing its $262 million lab grant program this week in Burlingame, about 490 miles to the south in La Jolla, a tiny firm called Stemagen was making international headlines with its news about cloning human embryos.

Terri Somers of the San Diego Union-Tribune had one of the first stories on the matter. The paper also had a piece by Sandi Dolbee on the ethics of the issue. The blog of the American Journal of Bioethics has a roundup of links to coverage elsewhere.

The Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland also raised questions about the propriety of the research, which involved the cells (see Stemagen photo on right) of Stemagen's president, Samuel Wood (see Stemagen photo on left) and an anonymous investor in the firm.

Whatever your take on this, along with all the other news on stem cell research in the last few months, it will generate substantially more attention on the field from investors, scientists, supporters and foes.