Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise The therapeutic promise of human stem cells is indisputably huge, but the process of translating their potential into effective, real-world treatments involves deciphering and resolving a host of daunting complexities. Writing in the February 25 online issue of the journal PLOS ONE, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with collaborators from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), have definitively shown for the first time that the culture conditions in which stem cells are grown and mass-produced can affect their genetic stability. Since genetic and epigenetic instability are associated with cancers, we worry that similar alterations in stem cells may affect their safety in therapeutic transplants. Certain mutations might make transplanted stem cells more likely to form tumors, introducing the risk of cancer where it didnt exist before, said co-corresponding author Louise Laurent, MD, PhD, assistant professor and director of perinatal research in the Department of Reproductive Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine. This study shows the importance of quality control, added Jeanne F. Loring, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at TSRI, and adjunct professor in the UC San Diego Department of Reproductive … Continue reading →

Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) on Wednesday announced the launch of department of regenerative medicine, which will offer services based on stem cell therapy. Some of the services that will be offered in the department include diabetic foot, scleroderma that involves hardening of skin etc. The regenerative medicine department will focus on development of diagnostic and therapeutic concepts and their implementation in various disease conditions, said head of regenerative department, Kanakabhushanam. The doctors said all the therapies offered at the new centre are approved by institutional Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (ICSCRT) and registered with Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI). Already, since September, 2014, the regenerative medicine centre has been treating close to six patients who have diabetic foot. In future, the department will take up research in delayed non-union of fractures and even diabetic neuropathy, a common condition among diabetics wherein nerves get damaged. MD and CEO, KIMS Hospital, B. Bhaskar Rao, former NIMS Director Kakarla Subba Rao and other top doctors from the hospital were present. Please Wait while comments are loading... 1. Comments will be moderated by The Hindu editorial team. 2. Comments that are abusive, personal, incendiary or irrelevant cannot be published. 3. Please … Continue reading →

Jeanne Loring holds a petri dish with induced pluripotent stem cells from a Parkinsons patient. A nine-year legal challenge to human embryonic stem cell patents ended Tuesday, when the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The decision means the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, or WARF, will get to keep its patent rights for the cells, which were discovered in 1998 by University of Wisconsin - Madison scientist James Thompson. However, the challengers succeeded in preventing WARF from gaining rights over another important type of stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells, said Jeanne Loring, a stem cell scientist at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla who was part of a coalition contesting the WARF patents. IPS cells act much like human embryonic stem cells, and are being researched as an alternative for stem cell therapy. Loring is working with a group that seeks to use them to treat Parkinson's disease. WARF maintains it has the right to license use of human embryonic stem cells, because Thompson developed the methods to isolate them from embryos, which had not been previously done. Loring said the derivation is an obvious extension of methods used to derive non-primate embryonic stem cells, and … Continue reading →

IT IS expensive and controversial and the medical community is still divided about its success, but Jenni Saunders is living proof Russia's controversial stem cell treatment program can work. The Kawana Island resident spent 30 days in Moscow in December receiving stem cell treatment she hoped would help provide some relief from the multiple sclerosis that has been slowly crippling her body for 30 years. It has been 10 weeks since Ms Saunders' return and she is ecstatic with the results. The 60-year-old can literally jump for joy. It's been "years" since Ms Saunders was able to lift both feet off the ground, so the small leap in the air is a giant leap for her. "I have seen several improvements in the last nine to 10 weeks," she said. "The pins and needles in my hands and feet are virtually gone and I can stand up with my eyes closed. "This might not sound like a lot to many people, but to me it is significant." She says she is the oldest Australian to have attempted the $60,000 treatment, excluding the cost of flights. The stem cell treatment is not approved for MS sufferers in Australia and people like … Continue reading →