MANILA, Philippines -- "The Buzz" host Boy Abunda is going to Europe this weekend with his mother, who is suffering from dementia and Alzeimers disease. In an interview with ABS-CBN News on Tuesday afternoon, Abunda said he will bring his mother to Germany to try stem cell therapy. "Ako ay pupunta sa Europe hindi para magbakasyon. Dadalhin ko po ang aking ina para magpagamot sa Germany. Ito po 'yung fresh stem cell therapy. Maganda 'yung dini-diretso na dahil napag-uusapan ito," Abunda said. While Abunda is in Germany, Kris Aquino will take his place on ABS-CBN's entertainment talk show "The Buzz." In the interview, Abunda also said he's proud of Aquino, who's now open to doing extreme adventures, while continuing to be a good mother to her two sons. "Ang daming nagbago kay Kris. May mga bagay na hindi ko inakala na gagawin ni Kris like 'yung diving, zipline at marami pang iba. Natutuwa ako that she has become more open to many things. She has become more adventurous. She has retained being the doting mother that she is pero mas malalim ang halakhak niya ngayon sa buhay. She's just so joyful. Natutuwa ako habang pinapanood ko ang kanyang adventure sa … Continue reading →

Ethical, Clinical and Commercial Issues to be Navigated before Full Potential of Stem Cell Therapies can be Unleashed LONDON, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Stem cells offer exciting potential in regenerative medicine, and are likely to be widely used by mid-2017. Pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies are showing increased interest in stem cell research. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.pharma.frost.com), Analysis of the Stem Cell Markets-Unlocking the New Era in Therapeutics, finds that the market will be driven by stem cell applications in drug discovery platforms and by successful academia commercial company partnership models. "The high attrition rates of potential drug candidates has piqued the interest of pharmaceutical and biotech industries in stem cell use during the drug discovery phase," notes Frost & Sullivan Consulting Analyst Vinod Jyothikumar. "Previously, animal cell lines, tumours, or genetic transformation have been the traditional platform for testing drug candidates; however, these 'abnormal' cells have significantly contributed to a lack of translation into clinical studies." Many academic institutes and research centres are collaborating with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in stem cell research. This will provide impetus to the emergence of novel cell-based therapies. Key challenges to market development relate to reimbursement, ethics and … Continue reading →

This is a human ES cell-derived optic cup generated in our self-organization culture (culture day 26). Bright green, neural retina; off green, pigment epithelium; blue, nuclei; red, active myosin (strong in the inner surface of pigment epithelium). Credit: Nakano et al. Cell Stem Cell Volume 10 Issue 6 Human-derived stem cells can spontaneously form the tissue that develops into the part of the eye that allows us to see, according to a study published by Cell Press in the 5th anniversary issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. Transplantation of this 3D tissue in the future could help patients with visual impairments see clearly. "This is an important milestone for a new generation of regenerative medicine," says senior study author Yoshiki Sasai of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology. "Our approach opens a new avenue to the use of human stem cell-derived complex tissues for therapy, as well as for other medical studies related to pathogenesis and drug discovery." During development, light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye, called the retina, forms from a structure known as the optic cup. In the new study, this structure spontaneously emerged from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)cells derived from human embryos that … Continue reading →

MANILA, Philippines -- "The Buzz" host Boy Abunda is going to Europe this weekend with his mother, who is suffering from dementia and Alzeimers disease. In an interview with ABS-CBN News on Tuesday afternoon, Abunda said he will bring his mother to Germany to try stem cell therapy. "Ako ay pupunta sa Europe hindi para magbakasyon. Dadalhin ko po ang aking ina para magpagamot sa Germany. Ito po 'yung fresh stem cell therapy. Maganda 'yung dini-diretso na dahil napag-uusapan ito," Abunda said. While Abunda is in Germany, Kris Aquino will take his place on ABS-CBN's entertainment talk show "The Buzz." In the interview, Abunda also said he's proud of Aquino, who's now open to doing extreme adventures, while continuing to be a good mother to her two sons. "Ang daming nagbago kay Kris. May mga bagay na hindi ko inakala na gagawin ni Kris like 'yung diving, zipline at marami pang iba. Natutuwa ako that she has become more open to many things. She has become more adventurous. She has retained being the doting mother that she is pero mas malalim ang halakhak niya ngayon sa buhay. She's just so joyful. Natutuwa ako habang pinapanood ko ang kanyang adventure sa … Continue reading →