VZCZCXRO3708
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #1266/01 3390200
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040825Z DEC 07  ZDK CTG NUM SVCS
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6712
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 001266 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
HHS PASS TO FIC/NIH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO CH
SUBJECT: Guangzhou Institute to Play Key Role in China's Stem Cell 
Research Strategy 
 
GUANGZHOU 00001266  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health 
- in association with institutions in Shanghai and Beijing - will 
play a key role in China's national stem cell research strategy. 
Once limited by virtue of resources that could be expended, GIBH and 
others in China could now be in the forefront of more cost effective 
stem cell research.  End summary. 
 
New National Work Plan for Stem Cell Research 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH), in 
association with research institutions in Beijing and Shanghai, will 
play a key role in China's national strategy for stem cell research, 
according to local media reports.  On November 23, more than 50 
Chinese scientists from leading stem cell research institutes met in 
Beijing for three days to develop a national work plan that will 
allow them to capitalize on new stem cell technology that can 
reprogram human skin cells into stem cells, also known as the 
induced pluripotent cells.  GIBH Deputy Director Professor Pei 
Duanqing, who attended the meeting, described the new technology as 
the start of "a new epoch in human history".  GIBH and institutes in 
Beijing and Shanghai have been asked to share their resources, 
acquire new technology and pass it on to other institutes. 
 
¶3. (U) Chinese researchers were motivated in large part by recent 
breakthroughs made by the U.S. and Japan researchers on 
reprogramming skin cells into stem cells, a process known as induced 
pluripotent cells, which uses simple and cost-effective molecular 
cloning techniques.  The breakthrough opens new opportunities for 
Chinese researchers who were previously limited due to inadequate 
resources. 
 
GIBH Well Positioned to Build on Recent Advances 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (SBU) GIBH, which has strong basic and applied molecular biology 
techniques, is well positioned to take advantage of the new 
cost-effective stem cell technologies.  GIBH Director Chen Ling told 
us that the institute was founded after the SARS outbreak, which 
originated in Guangdong, to strengthen China's biomedical research 
and development capability particularly in infectious diseases.  It 
was established jointly by the Chinese Academy of Science, Guangdong 
Provincial Government, and Guangzhou Municipal Government in 2005 
with a combined initial investment of RMB 300 million (about US$40 
million).  The founding director, Ling Chen, is a U.S.-trained 
scientist with academic and industrial experience who recruited more 
than 20 principal investigators from diverse disciplines. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The South China Institute of Stem Cell Biology and 
Regeneration Medicine is the stem cell research unit of GIBH and is 
headed by GIBH Deputy Director Pei.  The stem cell research 
institute, in the Guangzhou Science Park, has three principal 
investigators and close to 20 technical staff.  GIBH Director Chen 
said the institute is building a permanent campus in the nearby 
Nansha Development Zone; the new facility will be equipped with a 
stem cell bank and laboratories capable of using the methods 
published by the U.S. and Japan researchers.  According to the GIBH 
website, the research agenda of the stem cell research institute 
covers a wide range of activities, including the maintenance of 
pluripotency in stem cells, the mechanism of stem cell 
differentiation and cell-cycle control, neural stem cells, stem cell 
biochemistry and technology platform, as well as nuclear 
reprogramming of somatic cells. 
 
Conference Showcases Chinese Stem Cell Progress 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶6. (U) Stem cell research began in China in the 1990s but has 
recently attracted more attention from the international research 
community.  On November 6-9, the U.S.-based International Society 
for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), along with five major stem cell 
research institutes from China, jointly organized the 2007 Shanghai 
International Stem Cell Research Conference.  It was the first time 
ISSCR sponsored a conference other than its own annual meeting.  It 
was also the first major international conference on stem cell 
research to be held in China.  The meeting brought together nearly 
500 participants from more than 20 countries.  One of the objectives 
was to showcase the progress made by Chinese stem cell researchers. 
Of the 57 scientists who made presentations at the conference, 33 
were Chinese. Additional information on the Shanghai conference can 
be found at http://www.chinastemcell.org.cn/2007SIS/einde x.asp. 
 
GUANGZHOU 00001266  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
GOLDBERG