Stem and progenitor cells for liver repopulation: can we standardise the process from bench to bedside?

There has been recent progress in the isolation and characterisation of stem/progenitor cells that may differentiate towards the hepatic lineage. This has raised expectations that therapy of genetic or acquired liver disease might be possible by transplanting stem/progenitor cells or their liver-committed progeny. However, it is currently impossible to determine from the many documented studies which of the stem/progenitor cell populations are the best for therapy of a given disease. This is largely because of the great variability in methods used to characterise cells and their differentiation ability, variability in transplantation models and inconsistent methods to determine the effect of cell grafting in vivo. This manuscript represents a first proposal, created by a group of investigators ranging from basic biologists to clinical hepatologists. It aims to define standardised methods to assess stem/progenitor cells or their hepatic lineage-committed progeny that could be used for cell therapy in liver disease. Furthermore standardisation is suggested both for preclinical animal models to evaluate the ability of such cells to repopulate the liver functionally, and for the ongoing clinical trials using mature hepatocytes. Only when these measures have been put in place will the promise of stem/progenitor-derived hepatocyte-based therapies become reality.status: publishe

Patent Rights and Human Rights: Exploring their Relationships

The assessment of the relationship between patent rights and human rights has resulted in several tentative findings, such as by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, that there are ‘‘apparent’’ or ‘‘actual or potential’’ conflicts. Also the World Intellectual Property Organization says that ‘‘conflicts may exist’’ between the two. This article, which is based on a Ph.D. dissertation on the right to food and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), analyzes the relationship between the two, based on an established understanding of conflict in international law, namely incompatible obligations. Also another level of conflict is introduced, namely conflict on the level of prescribed measures in one treaty which impedes the taking of measures prescribed by another treaty. Finally, the article assesses conflict on the level of impact. The findings are that strict legal conflict between the two is difficult to establish, but that there are serious concerns regarding their implementation. Developing states should make use of all the flexibilities that the TRIPS Agreement provides