Jan. 8, 2013 Stem cell manufacturing for drug screening and treatments for diseases such as Huntington's and Parkinson's could be boosted by a new method of generating stem cells, a study suggests. Scientists have developed a family of compounds that can support the growth of human embryonic stem cells on a large scale for use in drug testing or treatments. The new materials, which are water-based gels, act as a tiny scaffold to which cells can cling as they grow. Normally cells must be grown on expensive biological surfaces that can carry pathogens and contaminate cells. Once cells have multiplied sufficiently for their intended purpose, the gels can be cooled, enabling the stem cells to drop off the scaffold without becoming damaged. The new approach surpasses existing techniques of separating cells by mechanical or chemical means, which carry a greater risk of damage to cells. Scientists say the materials could offer a means of enabling the stem cells to be produced in large numbers efficiently and without the risk of inadvertent contamination, facilitating research, drug screening programmes and clinical applications that call for large numbers of cells. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh developed the new materials by screening hundreds … Continue reading →

The US Supreme Court has declined to review Sherley v. Sebelius US Court of Appeals ruling, ending the legal effort to block federally funded research on human embryonic stem cells, reports ScienceInsider. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins says he was "very pleased" with the decision. "[It] allows the ruling to stand, and enables NIH to continue conducting and funding stem cell research, following the strict ethical guidelines put in place in 2009," he says in a statement. "Patients and their families who look forward to new therapies to replace cells lost by disease or injury, or who may benefit from new drugs identified by screening using stem cells, should be reassured that NIH will continue supporting this promising research." The suit was brought by James Sherley and Theresa Deishe, both adult stem cell researchers, after the Obama administration issued an executive order in 2009 expanding the human stem cell lines that are eligible for federal funding. Sherley and Deishe argued that NIH violated the Dickey-Wicker amendment that bars it from funding research that destroys embryos, Donald Zuhn at Patent Docs adds. They received a preliminary injunction in 2010, but that was then vacated by the US Court of … Continue reading →

OLDSMAR, Fla., Jan. 8, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (CCEL) Cryo-Cell International Chief Scientific Officer Linda L. Kelley, PhD, expressed optimism that an effective treatment for cerebral palsy (CP) using cord blood stem cells may be on the horizon now that the first results of a Phase 2 study have been published. The paper by Dr. Min Young Kim and colleagues is the first to demonstrate efficacy using umbilical cord blood as therapy in a large, placebo-controlled, double-blind study in South Korea. Cerebral palsy (CP) is a devastating disability acquired in early childhood which affects approximately 10,000 babies per year and results in lifelong motor and cognitive functional deficits. Dr. Kim's team treated 96 children between the ages of 10 months and 10 years. Patients were divided into three groups: EPO was included in the study because of its previously demonstrated neural repair properties. In addition, all patients experienced an intensive one month in-patient rehabilitation program. Dr. Kelley noted, "The study results are of profound importance and provide optimism for parents of thousands of children suffering with CP and for unborn children at risk of acquiring CP. Since there are few, if any, early warning signs predicting who will be affected … Continue reading →

Treatment restores sight in mice 7:00pm Tuesday 8th January 2013 in News REVOLUTIONARY stem cell treatment has given sight back to mice that were formerly completely blind. Oxford University researchers transplanted cells into the eyes of mice that had lost their sight due to losing the light-sensing photoreceptor cells in their retinas. They found they could reform the entire light-sensitive layer of the retina. After the treatment, nocturnal mice that previously did not notice any difference between light and dark ran away from light and preferred to be in the dark, in the same way as mice with normal vision. Prof Robert MacLaren, of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford University, led the research along with eye surgeon Dr Mandeep Singh, who is from the National University Hospital of Singapore and undertaking PhD studies in Oxford. Prof MacLaren said: Stem cells have been trialled in patients to replace the pigmented lining of the retina, but this new research shows that the light-sensing layer might also be replaced in a similar way. He said this could lead towards potential cell treatments for blindness in humans using stem cells generated from patients own cells. He said: All the steps are … Continue reading →

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Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;Neurology / Neuroscience Article Date: 08 Jan 2013 - 3:00 PST Current ratings for: Stem Cell Transplant Studies Raise Hopes Of Treatment For ALS 4.33 (3 votes) A summary of all 11 studies, plus the results of the meta-analysis of their pooled data, can be found in a paper published in the 19 December online issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine. Co-lead author of the paper Yang (Ted) Teng is a Harvard Medical School (HMS) associate professor of surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, in the US. He and his colleagues believe the key to treating ALS lies in targeting new mechanisms uncovered by studies into neural stem cells. Their review takes in a decade of research from several institutions. As well as Brigham and Women's, it covers results from studies conducted at Johns Hopkins University, the VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston Children's Hospital, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, UMass Medical School, SUNY-Syracuse, and Columbia University. Teng says in an HMS statement released last week: "This significant research will help us better understand the mechanisms underlying motor neuron diseases." Neural stem cells … Continue reading →

Wockhardt gets USFDA nod to market anti-epilepsy tablets Lamotrigine is the sixth product with drug delivery technology that has received USFDA nod in last six months Press Trust of India / New Delhi Jan 08, 2013, 14:47 IST Drug firm Wockhardt today said it has received final approval from the US health regulator to market generic Lamotrigine tablets - used for treatment of epilepsy - in America. The company has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for marketing Lamotrigine extended release tablets in the strengths of 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg and 300 mg, Wockhardt said in a filing to BSE. "We are continuing our rapid momentum of 2012 into the new year with this approval of Lamotrigine extended release tablets," Wockhardt Founder Chairman and Group CEO Habil Khorakiwala said on the development. This is the sixth product with drug delivery technology that has received USFDA approval in last six months..., he added. Quoting IMS Health data the company said that the total market for the product in the US is nearly $200 million. The product is generic version of Lamictal XR tablets marketed in the United States by Glaxo Smithkline, it added. … Continue reading →

A strong family history of seizures could increase the chances of having severe migraines, says a study in Epilepsia journal. Scientists from Columbia University, New York, analysed 500 families containing two or more close relatives with epilepsy. Their findings could mean that genes exist that cause both epilepsy and migraine. Epilepsy Action said it could lead to targeted treatments. Previous studies have shown that people with epilepsy are substantially more likely than the general population to have migraine headaches, but it was not clear whether that was due to a shared genetic cause. The researchers found that people with three or more close relatives with a seizure disorder were more than twice as likely to experience 'migraine with aura' than patients from families with fewer individuals with seizures. Migraine with aura is a severe headache preceded by symptoms such as seeing flashing lights, temporary visual loss, speech problems or numbness of the face. Dr Melodie Winawer, lead author of the study from Columbia University Medical Centre, said the findings had implications for epilepsy patients. "Our study demonstrates a strong genetic basis for migraine and epilepsy, because the rate of migraine is increased only in people who have close (rather than … Continue reading →