Four-year-old girl meets stem cell donor for the first time in Bengaluru – The Hindu

It was an emotional moment on Tuesday for Debojyoti, a 26-year-old software professional from Bengaluru, when he met four-year-old Shia from Kolkata, recipient of his blood stem cells.

Mr. Debojyoti, who came to the rescue of the little girl by donating his stem cells, met her for the first time at a meeting organised by a non-profit organisation, DKMS-BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry in the city.

Thanks to the donation, Shia daughter of primary school teacher Saifulla Kobir and homemaker Sajida Kobir has been cured of thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder. When this family residing in Kolkata found that their daughter was suffering from thalassemia, they researched about the treatments available. Sharing his experience Mr. Kobir said: Due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure we were turned down by the local doctors. When we were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated.

We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr. Revathi Raj in Chennai and she assured us that there is a treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant. That is when our journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began, said an emotional Mr. Kobir.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year, and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation in Chennai.

Mr. Debojyoti said, I registered myself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration I was found to be a match. As per protocols, the identity of the donor and recipient are kept anonymous for two years, and thereafter they can be introduced to each other.

Latha Jagannathan, director of DKMS-BMST, said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive. Unfortunately, a majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor. Their registry currently has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

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Four-year-old girl meets stem cell donor for the first time in Bengaluru - The Hindu

4-year-old thalassemia surivor meets lifesaver for first time – Yahoo India News

Bengaluru, Feb 4 (PTI) This World Cancer Day, Bengaluru witnessed a heart-warming moment where a thalassemia survivor met her lifesaver for the first time.

A techie from the city had donated his blood stem cells giving a second chance at life to the four-year-old Shia from West Bengal suffering from thalassemia.

The meeting was organised by the non-profit organisation DKMS BMST Foundation India, an international blood stem cell donor registry.

Shia flew for the first time and came here to meet her lifesaver Debojyoti, a 26-year-old techie, who donated his blood stem cells so that she could receive a second chance at life.

Expressing his emotions on World Cancer Day on Tuesday, Debojyoti told reporters he had registered himself as a potential stem cell donor in 2016 and after a year of registration he was found to be a match.

'I did not know the details of the patient to whom my blood stem cells will be given but now when I met her after all these years, I went numb. Being able to save a life is a feeling beyond words. It can only be experienced-cant be described,' he said.

When this family residing in Kolkata found their daughter suffering from thalassemia, they researched about the treatments available.

Sharing their experience, Shias father Saifulla said due to lack of awareness about the blood stem cell transplant procedure they were turned down by the local doctors.

'We were told that our daughter will need blood transfusion throughout her life to survive, we were devastated but kept doing our research. We got a ray of hope after meeting Dr Revathi Raj based in Chennai and she assured us of treatment available in the form of a blood stem cell transplant, he said.

Thats when the journey to find an unrelated blood stem cell match began for the family.

With the help of doctors, they were lucky to find a match for their daughter within a year and she underwent a blood stem cell transplantation.

Director of DKMS-BMST Dr Latha Jagannathan said many patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders need a blood stem cell transplant to survive.

'Unfortunately, majority of patients are unable to receive a transplant due to the unavailability of a matching blood stem cell donor', she said.

The registry DKMS-BMST at present has over 40,000 registered potential blood stem cell donors.

'We will work hard that this number will increase considerably over the coming years', she added.

Paediatric hematologist, oncologist and BMT specialist at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, Dr Pooja Prakash Mallya said every five minutes someone in India is diagnosed with blood cancer and other blood disorders. And many are not able to find a match within their families and hence need an unrelated donor.

This gap can be bridged only when more and more people from different ethnicities in India are a part of the donor registry maintained by organisations such as DKMS-BMST, she said.

CEO of DKMS BMST Foundation India Patrick Paul said mostly, for blood cancer patients a blood stem cell transplant is key for survival.

'Each one of us should register as a potential stem cell donor and encourage our near and dear ones to register themselves too', he said.

As per protocols, the identity of both the donor and recipient are kept anonymous for a period of two years and thereafter upon interest they can be introduced to each other.

Ever since I donated my blood stem cells, I was looking forward to meeting the recipient. I only knew her age and today I am glad that I could see her and meet her family, Debojyoti said.

Today, Shia is leading a normal life and is a hale and hearty girl who likes to draw and colour and is probably not even completely aware of the condition she was in, a DKMS-BMST statement said.

All she knows is Debojyoti is a friend who gifted her something she would cherish forever.

DKMS-BMST is a joint venture of two non-profit organisations: BMST (Bangalore Medical Services Trust) and DKMS, one of the largest international blood stem cell donor registries in the world. PTI RS NVG NVG

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4-year-old thalassemia surivor meets lifesaver for first time - Yahoo India News

Huey Lewis May Never Perform Again. But He Refuses to Give Up – Rolling Stone

Huey Lewis can pinpoint the exact moment his entire world fell apart. It was January 2018 and he was in Dallas to play a corporate gig with his longtime band the News. Opening act Pat Green was entertaining the audience and Lewis was taking the Elvis route to the stage through the kitchen.

I heard this huge noise, he says. It sounded like warfare was going on in the other room. I yelled, What is that? They said, Its just Pat, the opening act. I put in my in-ear [monitors] in and couldnt hear anything.

He hoped things would improve once he got onto the stage, but when the band kicked into the opening song, the sound only got worse. I thought the bass amp had blown a speaker, he says. I just heard this horrible noise and I couldnt find pitch or even hear myself. It was an absolute nightmare. The worst thing. Just horrible.

The last time anything like this happened was back in 1987, right at the apex of Lewis fame, when songs like Doing It All for My Baby and Hip to Be Square were all over Top 40 radio. One day, out of nowhere, the hearing in his right ear completely vanished. I felt like I had been in a swimming pool and my ear was full, he says. I couldnt shake it out or pop my ears. I went to all kinds of doctors and an EMT finally said to me, Get used to it. I said, Get used to it? Im a musician!'

The doctor explained to him that the hearing was unlikely to return but that great artists like Brian Wilson got by just fine with hearing in only one ear, since the body has a remarkable way of adjusting. Lewis was ultimately diagnosed with Menieres disease.

Its a syndrome based on symptoms, the singer says. If you have fullness in your ears, vertigo, and tinnitus, they call it Menieres, but they dont know what it is.

As predicted, Lewis quickly adjusted to life with one ear and went about his life and career until that horrible night in Dallas when his left ear dropped out too. He went to the House Ear Institute, the Stanford Ear Institute, and the Mayo Clinic to meet with the most renowned hearing specialists in the world. When they were unable to help, he visited a chiropractor and an acupuncturist, and even instituted an all-organic, low-fat, caffeine-free, essential-oils diet.

Nothing worked, and he was forced to cancel all his future tour dates. Singing had been at the center of Lewis life since he was a teenager and despair quickly set in. I was suicidal, he says. There was literally a roaring tinnitus in my head. I just laid in bed. There was nothing I could do. Id just lay in bed and contemplate my demise.

With the help of his children and close friends, he slowly pulled himself out of his misery.

It turns out you can get used to almost anything, he says. I told myself things like, At least I dont have pancreatic cancer '

He also realized that his condition was more complicated than he originally thought. Some days he was essentially deaf, but other days he heard well enough to engage in conversations. He created a scale of one to 10 to explain it to others. Ten is what it was before this happened, he says. Im at a five now right now, which means I can hear speech fine with hearing aids in. Under a three, I cant even hear the phone ring. (During the course of an hour-long conversation, Lewis hears me just fine and never asks me to repeat even a single question.)

But even on days where hes a five and can engage in conversation, listening to music is a very different story. Music is much harder to listen to than speech because even one note occurs in all frequencies with harmonics and overtones and undertones, he says. I call it distortion. When I hear a bass part that goes bump, bump, bump, I just hear [imitates the sound of loud, crunchy static]. I fight for pitch and I cant find it. If I cant find pitch, I cant sing. Its horrible.

I was suicidal. Id just lay in bed and contemplate my demise.

The timing of all this is particularly cruel because when it happened, Lewis was hard at work on the first album of original Huey Lewis and the News songs since 2001s Plan B. New music hadnt been a priority for him in quite a while. His most recent Top 40 hit was 1991s It Hit Me Like a Hammer, and he had more than enough classics to fill out a set list, but he still felt like it was time to try again.

As a storyteller, you need new stories every now and then, he says. But we were doing 80 shows a year and we had lives, so it didnt seem like there was time to make another record. Also, a real problem was the songs. Were not a prolific bunch as it is, especially since weve written a bunch of stuff and its hard to write more. Its harder now. I cant have a song with rock & roll in the title. I already did that!

But slowly over the years, prior to his hearing loss, he recorded the seven songs for his upcoming LP Weather, in stores February 14th. The label initially wanted to add more songs [from earlier points in my career], says Lewis. I said to them, Why poison the water? This is a body of work. Why contaminate it? Who cares about the number of songs? And if its just seven songs because I cant sing anymore, thats a better story! And Kanyes record just has seven songs. Case closed!'

Lead-off single Her Love Is Killin Me was written by Lewis and former News guitarist Chris Hayes about 25 years ago. It just didnt work for some reason, he says. We tired it onstage in all sorts of different arrangements and it never worked. Two years ago, [rhythm guitarist and saxophonist] Johnny [Colla] had an idea for a horn chart and we re-worked it and it happened. Sometimes it takes the simplest things to get a song right.

Another song, While Were Young, was written by News bassist John Pierce along with Colla and Lewis. The vocal was originally cut in Lewis San Diego condo and the song was pieced together by various members of the band over email. We never sat in the studio to make that one, says Lewis. We assembled it. And some of the vocals on the finished version were cut in my living room on that first day.

One of the Boys came about when producer Dave Cobb asked Lewis to write a song for a Willie Nelson project that never came to fruition. Now I had this song for Willie, says Lewis. I imagined it as his story, but suddenly I realized it was actually my story. John McFee, who worked with me in [my old band] Clover and is now in the Doobie Brothers, played pedal steel and we finished the tune.

Lewis now finds himself in the unusual position of having a new record that he cant tour to support. But hes filming a documentary about his life (Were going to kick Linda Rondstadts ass! he jokes) and trying to bring his musical The Heart of Rock & Roll to Broadway. Its the fictional story of a struggling rock singer who gives up on his dreams of stardom to work in a cardboard-box factory, where he falls in love with his boss daughter. When his group gets an offer to open up for a huge band on tour, he has decide if it makes sense to leave his new life behind and give music one last chance. Every song, of course, is by Huey Lewis and the News.

The musical played to packed houses in San Diego last year, but bringing it to Broadway has proved to be challenging. Its an interesting game, Broadway, Lewis says. The theater owners own all the cards and you have to find the right one. It cant be too big or too small. Union-wise, you need a certain number of musicians. Its quite complicated, but were navigating all that and hopefully well go to Broadway this year.

Even with all these projects occupying his time, along with golf and spending time with his two kids, Lewis still yearns to sing onstage again one day. On days where hes a five or higher, he sings into his computer just to keep his voice up. At two points in the past year, he had so many great days in a row that he booked a rehearsal space with his band just to see what would happen. The News flew in from all over the country, but both times his hearing dropped down below a two shortly before they could all get in the room together.

There have been brief moments of triumph, though. In October 2018, Lewis went to St. Andrews, Scotland, for a golf tournament, and he was having such a great hearing day that he went onstage with a band that was playing there and sang Hip to Be Square. I was able to do it because it was as tiny place, not an arena, and the band was very quiet, he says. It felt amazing though. I was so happy.

In theory, Lewis could play a full set on a good hearing day under the right conditions, but the logistics make it hard to pull off. Id need to book the show a month in advance, he says, and I never know what Ill be like in a couple days since it fluctuates so much.

His former production manager now oversees the Buddy Holly hologram tour and theyve joked about using the technology to get him back on the road. They had to use a model to ape Buddy Holly, he says with a laugh. Id be the perfect model for Huey Lewis! I could come on between tunes and do shtick. The crew loves the idea.

Thats obviously out of the question, and Lewis also rejects any idea that involves using pre-recorded vocals as part of a live show. But whatever happens going forward, hes refusing to give up hope that one day hell heal. The inner ear is one of the things that medical science knows the least about, he says. Its cased in bone and theres no surgery. But Im taking stem-cell stuff and trying everything. With my hearing always fluctuating, my body is doing something itself. What I have to do is stay healthy, exercise, and hope my body will slowly take care of itself.

And if he never gets his hearing back and therefore never plays live again, Lewis says hell be OK.

I have a great life, he says. Im a lucky guy. No matter what happens, Im a lucky guy. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that. But I am.

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Huey Lewis May Never Perform Again. But He Refuses to Give Up - Rolling Stone

Kochi to host first ever global meet on Integrative Oncology – Onmanorama

Kochi: Promising to showcase breakthrough findings in cancer care, the first ever integrative medicine global oncology conference will be held at Hotel Le Meridian in Kochi on February 8 and 9, 2020.

The International Conference on Integrative Oncology 2020 (ICIO 2020) is being organised by the Global Homeopathy Foundation (GHF) which will be attended by top oncologists from India and abroad representing medical, surgical, radiation, haematology, paediatric and gynaecology specialties.

Dr. Sreevals Menon, Managing Trustee of GHF, said that there will be four moderated panel discussions at the conference with AYUSH/TCAM (Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine) oncology experts including Dr Michael Dixon, Chair to the Prince's Foundation of Integrated Health U.K. set up by Prince of Wales; Dr Manfred Mueller, US; Dr Ioannis Papasotiriou, Greece; Dr Issac Mathai, Bangalore; Luke Coutinho, celebrity onco-nutritionist and Aliya Almoayed from Bahrain, taking part. The ICIO 2020 is expected to be attended by over a thousand delegates from about 30 countries, he said.

Specialists from Germany, USA, UK, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, South Africa, India and others, engaged in integrative and clinical oncology, fundamental research, AYUSH/TCAM -based oncology in all major disciplines shall present about 25 key scientific papers.

The event will expose doctors, researchers, medical scholars and oncology enthusiasts among public to novel possibilities in integration of different oncology care streams. The disciplines in focus in this regard include AYUSH/TCAM sciences and conventional medicine in oncology, onco-nutrition, pharmacognosy, psycho-oncology, immunotherapy oncology, onco-diagnostics, stem cell therapy, Mistletoe & Iscador therapies, onco-physiotherapy and onco-nursing, among others, Dr. Menon added.

ICIO2020 shall also be inspired by special orations which are expected to stimulate strategies leading to formation of Integrative Oncology units in leading cancer care centres nationwide. A vision of the conference is to set up a major national institute of international standards in Integrative Oncology synchronising Integrative Medicine (IM) with other therapies, with a lead role for IM at multiple levels.

ICIO 2020 will also have a dedicated yoga hall for delegates to register and get training from international experts in clinical yoga therapy in 12 major diseases. The event will also witness a cancer survivors meet. In a pioneering session on psycho-oncology, Dr. Surendran, Ozan Bahcivan and Dr. E Vidhubala will address the delegates which will be co-ordinated by Dr. Veenavani Nallepali.

GHF is the most distinguished non-profit Homeopathy organisation in India, a global institution that delivers the benefits of Homeopathy. Operating as an advisory body with its affiliates and members in over 15 countries, GHF has organised major national and international conferences, led delegations of Homeopaths to various countries, routinely conducted charitable humanitarian activities and has supported integration of medicine systems, being co-organizer of three ICIO so far.

ICIO 2020 is held in association with Central Health & FW Ministry, AYUSH/TCAM Ministry, all AYUSH/TCAM research councils and State Governments of Kerala and Maharashtra, and National AYUSH Mission.

The last date for registration to attend the conference is February 6, 2020. One can visit http://www.icio2020.com for details and registration.

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Kochi to host first ever global meet on Integrative Oncology - Onmanorama

[World Cancer Day] 5 women from Bollywood whose struggles with cancer are truly inspirational – YourStory

February 4 marks World Cancer Day and is designated to raise awareness of cancer and encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. Battling cancer is tough, it alters your life but it's not the end. Cancer survivors are inspirations and a ray of hope for many others who are also battling the disease.

Cancer can be tougher on people who are in the limelight as they have to deal with intense public scrutiny. However, making the diagnosis public can have a positive effect on people, and help them in their battle against cancer.

(Top) Sonali Bendre, Lisa Ray, Tahira Kashyap; (Bottom) Nafisa Ali, Manisha Koirala.

In 2012, Manisha Koirala was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer. The actress of the Bombay and Dil Se fame writes about her struggle with the disease in her memoir, Healed: How Cancer Gave Me A New Life which was published in December 2018.

In it, she reveals that for over a decade she had abused her body and cancer taught her to lead a better lifestyle. Now, she hopes to promote the importance of preventive lifestyle and early detection.

She took a break from acting in 2012 and returned five years later with the coming-of-age drama Dear Maya, Netflix's Lust Stories and Sanju.

Lisa Ray was one of the first actresses to make her cancer diagnosis public. The Indo-Canadian actress had multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects white blood cells. She was diagnosed in 2009 and after a successful stem cell transplant, she announced that she was cancer free.

She has revealed that her diagnosis shocked her at first, which was then followed by denial. However, eventually she tried to transform the experience into something which could help others.

During her treatment, she used her blog The Yellow Diaries to post details of her treatment and pictures of her journey. She worked to remove the oppression and burden people try associating with the disease through her blog.

She has championed the cause of multiple myeloma, a little-known form of cancer and helped raise funds for its research. She has also supported other initiatives such as the Pantene Beautiful Lengths and the Multiple Myeloma M-Moving Together Toward The Cure Walk.

She even chronicled her life, love, and cancer experiences through sarees. The Ray of Hope saree collection in which each saree has a story behind it.

After being diagnosed with cancer in 2018, Sonali Bendre had an uphill battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with a "high-grade cancer" that had metastasized. The cancer had spread from the primary tumour to all over her abdomen.

On her husband Goldie Behls insistence, she sought treatment in New York. Only after getting there, did the doctors inform her thatshe had stage IV cancer and had only a 30 percent chance of survival.

The actress took to Twitter to share her diagnosis and used social media to document her cancer journey.

Filmmaker and writer Tahira Kashyap was diagnosed with pre-invasive breast cancer in September 2018. She was detected with DCIS - ductal carcinoma in situ - in her right breast with high grade malignant cells. She underwent a mastectomy procedure to surgically remove her breasts.

She has revealed that she was not ready to share it with the world. However, she decided that her making the diagnosis public would help remove the stigma and taboo associated with cancer. She is now spreading awareness about early breast cancer detection awareness and is sparing no medium to take it forward.

The yesteryear actress, Nafisa Ali Sodhi was diagnosed with stage 3 peritoneal and ovarian cancer. The politician and activist was diagnosed in 2018 and used Instagram to share health updates with people to raise awareness for the need for early diagnosis. Diagnosed at the age of 60, she has now turned into a crusader for early detection of cancer, especially among women. She has featured in films such as Junoon, Major Saab, Bewafaa , Life In A... Metro and Yamla Pagla Deewana.

(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)

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[World Cancer Day] 5 women from Bollywood whose struggles with cancer are truly inspirational - YourStory

Son to shave head to support mum with leukaemia – Chronicle

WITH his mum being treated for leukaemia, Sana McFarlane-Smith is participating in the World's Greatest shave.

Sana's mother, Neda Master, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, in April 2019.

Since then she has undergone months of chemotherapy treatment and a stem cell transplant.

Neda said when she first got her diagnoses she was relieved.

It had been a long process with lots of tests and scans, and she was grateful to finally know what was wrong.

"I was so sick of people telling me it was in my head. I didn't cry, I was relieved," Neda said.

"The 16 weeks of chemo was easy, but I got scared when they did they stem cell collection- that was a bit rough.

"You will feel fear, the stem cell process is not nice and the nurses are honest with you.

"I had wonderful doctors, and I wouldn't be here without them.

"When I went through the stem cell transplant it was very challenging for me - the pain, the nausea.

"I kept thinking 'am I going to get through this?'"

Neda is due to go through her second stem cell transplant this month, which will hopefully put her into remission.

Sana said he hoped to raise $15,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation.

"The reason I chose to fundraise for the World's Greatest Shave is because I'm currently doing a challenge which is the Duke of Edinburgh award," Sana said.

"One of the components is a form of service or volunteer work where you give back to the community.

"Since my mum was diagnosed with cancer and the Leukaemia Foundation has given so much to me, my mum and our family, I thought it would only be fair that I return the favour and give something to them."

The 16 year old said he wanted to be an oncologist or haematologist when he finished school.

To help support Sana's fundraising efforts, visit https://secure.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?RegistrationID=774634

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Son to shave head to support mum with leukaemia - Chronicle

3. Embryonic Stem Cells | Stem Cells and the Future of …

PROPERTIES OF ESCs IMPORTANT FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Human ESCs were successfully grown in the laboratory for the first time in 1998 (Thompson et al., 1998). Under appropriate culture conditions, ESCs have demonstrated a remarkable ability to self-renew continuously, that is, to produce more cells like themselves that are multipotent. As indicated at the workshop by Thomas Okarma and Ron McKay, ESC lines established from single cells have been demonstrated to proliferate through 300-400 population-doubling cycles. Human ESCs that have been propagated for more than 2 years also demonstrate a stable and normal complement of chromosomes, in contrast to the unstable and abnormal complement of embryonic cancer cell lines used in the past to study early stages of embryonic development. Careful monitoring of the aging ESC lines will be needed to evaluate the significance of genetic changes that are expected to occur over time.

Because human ESCs have only recently become available for research, most of what is known about ESCs comes from studies in the mouse, which, as noted in Chapter 2, cannot be presumed to provide definitive evidence of the capabilities of human cells.

Nevertheless, ESCs derived from mouse blastocysts have been studied for 2 decades and provide a critical baseline of knowledge about the biology and cultivation of these cells (Torres, 1998; Wobus and Boheler, 1999). The factors that permit the mouse ESC to continue replicating in the laboratory without differentiation and methods to trigger differentiation into different cell types that exhibit normal function have been actively explored. Among the types of cells derived from cultured mouse ESCs are fat cells, various brain and nervous system cells, insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, bone cells, hematopoietic cells, yolk sac, endothelial cells, primitive endodermal cells, and smooth and striated muscle cells, including cardiomyocytesheart muscle cells (Odorico et al., 2001).

Experience with mouse ESCs has provided clues to methods for culturing human ESCs and leading them to differentiate. Mouse ESCs

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3. Embryonic Stem Cells | Stem Cells and the Future of ...

Embryonic Stem Cell Fact Sheet

What are embryonic stem cells? All embryonic stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are unlike any specific adult cell. However, they have the ability to form any adult cell. Because undifferentiated embryonic stem cells can proliferate indefinitely in culture, they could potentially provide an unlimited source of specific, clinically important adult cells such as bone, muscle, liver or blood cells.

Where do embryonic stem cells come from? Human embryonic stem cells are derived from in vitro fertilized embryos less than a week old. These embryos were produced for clinical purposes, but were no longer wanted for implantation by the couples who donated them. They were donated specially for this project with the informed consent of donors. In virtually every in vitro fertilization clinic in the world, surplus embryos are discarded if they are not donated to help other infertile couples or for research. The research protocols were reviewed and approved by a UWMadison Institutional Review Board, a panel of scientists and medical ethicists who oversee such work.

Why are they important? Embryonic stem cells are of great interest to medicine and science because of their ability to develop into virtually any other cell made by the human body. In theory, if stem cells can be grown and their development directed in culture, it would be possible to grow cells of medical importance such as bone marrow, neural tissue or muscle.

What, precisely, has the UW team accomplished? Scientists have been attempting to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells for more than a decade. Using 14 blastocysts obtained from donated, surplus embryos produced by in vitro fertilization, the Wisconsin group established five independent cell lines. The cell lines, derived from preimplantation stage embryos, were capable of prolonged, undifferentiated proliferation in culture and yet maintained the ability to develop into a variety of specific cell types, including neural, gut, muscle, bone and cartilage cells.

How might they be used to treat disease? The ability to grow human tissue of all kinds opens the door to treating a range of cell-based diseases and to growing medically important tissues that can be used for transplantation purposes. For example, diseases like juvenile onset diabetes mellitus and Parkinsons disease occur because of defects in one of just a few cells types. Replacing faulty cells with healthy ones offers hope of lifelong treatment. Similarly, failing hearts and other organs, in theory, could be shored up by injecting healthy cells to replace damaged or diseased cells.

Are there other potential uses for these cells? The first potential applications of human embryonic stem cell technology may be in the area of drug discovery. The ability to grow pure populations of specific cell types offers a proving ground for chemical compounds that may have medical importance. Treating specific cell types with chemicals and measuring their response offers a short-cut to sort out chemicals that can be used to treat the diseases that involve those specific cell types. Ramped up stem cell technology would permit the rapid screening of hundreds of thousands of chemicals that must now be tested through much more time-consuming processes.

What can these cells tell us about development? The earliest stages of human development have been difficult or impossible to study. Human embryonic stem cells will offer insights into developmental events that cannot be studied directly in humans in utero or fully understood through the use of animal models. Understanding the events that occur at the first stages of development has potential clinical significance for preventing or treating birth defects, infertility and pregnancy loss. A thorough knowledge of normal development could ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development. For instance, screening drugs by testing them on cultured human embryonic stem cells could help reduce the risk of drug-related birth defects.

If a cluster of these cells was transferred to a woman, could a pregnancy result? No. These cells are not the equivalent of an intact embryo. If a cluster of these cells was transferred to a uterus, they would fail to implant, and would fail to develop into a fetus.

Is stem cell research the same as cloning?No. Stem cell research aims to develop new life-saving treatments, and cannot be used to develop a human being. Embryonic stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early-stage embryo cannot give rise to a placenta, so a human being could not develop, even if the stem cells were implanted into a womans uterus.

Why not derive stem cells from adults?There are several approaches now in human clinical trials that utilize mature stem cells (such as blood-forming cells, neuron-forming cells and cartilage-forming cells). However, because adult cells are already specialized, their potential to regenerate damaged tissue is very limited: skin cells will only become skin and cartilage cells will only become cartilage. Adults do not have stem cells in many vital organs, so when those tissues are damaged, scar tissue develops. Only embryonic stem cells, which have the capacity to become any kind of human tissue, have the potential to repair vital organs.

Studies of adult stem cells are important and will provide valuable insights into the use of stem cell in transplantation procedures. However, only through exploration of all types of stem cell research will scientists find the most efficient and effective ways to treat diseases.

What are the benefits of studying stem cells?Pluripotent stem cells represent hope for millions of Americans. They have the potential to treat or cure a myriad of diseases, including Parkinsons, Alzheimers, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, spinal cord injuries and burns.

This extraordinary research is still in its infancy and practical application will only be possible with additional study. Scientists need to understand what leads cells to specialization in order to direct cells to become particular types of tissue. For example, islet cells control insulin production in the pancreas, which is disrupted in people with diabetes. If an individual with diabetes is to be cured, the stem cells used for treatment must develop into new insulin-producing islet cells, not heart tissue or other cells. Research is required to determine how to control the differentiation of stem cells so they will be therapeutically effective. Research is also necessary to study the potential of immune rejection of the Cells, and how to overcome that problem.

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Embryonic Stem Cell Fact Sheet

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Pros and Cons – Biology Wise

Embryonic Stem Cell Research Pros and Cons

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The advantages and disadvantages of embryonic stem cell research are presented in this article.

The debate over stem cell research arises from the allegation that using an embryo for study purposes is unethical. In the process of carrying out research activities, the embryo gets destroyed. Protesters of this kind of research are against the killing of embryos, and have tagged this activity nothing but short of a murder.

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This research can be useful in finding cure for health problems like Parkinsons disease, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimers disease, organ transplantation, spinal cord injuries, birth defects, etc. Embryonic cells have the ability to reproduce any other cells present in the body. The debate over the use of these cells for research has been raging between religious groups and scientists. According to the former group, the use of embryos is considered to be immoral on the grounds that it destroys a life in the initial stages of development.

The arguments supporting the research of embryonic stem cells are presented below.

The following points should make us aware of the limitations of embryonic stem cell research.

The activity of carrying out research with embryonic stem cells would face strong opposition on moral and ethical grounds. Understanding the science of human cloning, and pros and cons of stem cell research through information presented above should prove to be useful.

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Embryonic Stem Cell Research Pros and Cons - Biology Wise

Researchers Explore Hydrogels That Are Promising Materials For Delivering Therapeutic Cells – Texas A&M University

Electron micrograph showing ridges and grooves on MAP hydrogel microbeads caused by developing stem cells.

Courtsey of Daniel Alge

Baby diapers, contact lenses and gelatin dessert. While seemingly unrelated, these items have one thing in common theyre made of highly absorbent substances called hydrogels that have versatile applications. Recently, a type of biodegradable hydrogel, dubbed microporous annealed particle (MAP) hydrogel, has gained much attention for its potential to deliver stem cells for body tissue repair. But it is currently unclear how these jelly-like materials affect the growth of their precious cellular cargo, thereby limiting its use in regenerative medicine.

In a new study published in the November issue of Acta Biomaterialia, researchers at Texas A&M University have shown that MAP hydrogels, programmed to biodegrade at an optimum pace, create a fertile environment for bone stem cells to thrive and proliferate vigorously. They found the space created by the withering of MAP hydrogels creates room for the stem cells to grow, spread and form intricate cellular networks.

Our research now shows that stem cells flourish on degrading MAP hydrogels; they also remodel their local environment to better suit their needs, said Daniel Alge, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. These results have important implications for developing MAP hydrogel-based delivery systems, particularly for regenerative medicine where we want to deliver cells that will replace damaged tissues with new and healthy ones.

MAP hydrogels are a newer breed of injectable hydrogels. These soft materials are interconnected chains of extremely small beads made of polyethylene glycol, a synthetic polymer. Although the microbeads cannot themselves cling to cells, they can be engineered to present cell-binding proteins that can then attach to receptor molecules on the stem cells surface.

Once fastened onto the microbeads, the stem cells use the space between the spheres to grow and transform into specialized cells, like bone or skin cells. And so, when there is an injury, MAP hydrogels can be used to deliver these new cells to help tissues regenerate.

However, the health and behavior of stem cells within the MAP hydrogel environment has never been fully studied.

MAP hydrogels have superior mechanical and biocompatible properties, so in principle, they are a great platform to grow and maintain stem cells, Alge said. But people in the field really dont have a good understanding of how stem cells behave in these materials.

To address this question, the researchers studied the growth, spread and function of bone stem cells in MAP hydrogels. Alge and his team used three samples of MAP hydrogels that differed only in the speed at which they degraded, that is, either slow, fast or not at all.

First, for the stem cells to attach onto the MAP hydrogels, the researchers decorated the MAP hydrogels with a type of cell-binding protein. They then tracked the stem cells as they grew using a high-resolution, fluorescent microscope. The researchers also repeated the same experiment using another cell-binding protein to investigate if cell-binding proteins also affected stem cell development within the hydrogels.

To their surprise, Alges team found that for both types of cell-binding proteins, the MAP hydrogels that degraded the fastest had the largest population of stem cells. Furthermore, the cells were changing the shape of the MAP hydrogel as they spread and claimed more territory.

In the intact MAP hydrogel, we could still see the spherical microbeads and the material was quite undamaged, Alge said. By contrast, the cells were making ridges and grooves in the degrading MAP hydrogels, dynamically remodeling their environment.

The researchers also found that as the stem cells grew, the quantity of bone proteins produced by the growing stem cells depended on which cell-binding protein was initially used in the MAP hydrogel.

Alge noted that the insight gained through their study will greatly inform further research and development in MAP hydrogels for stem-cell therapies.

Although MAP hydrogel degradability profoundly affects the growth of the stem cells, we found that the interplay between the cell-binding proteins and the degradation is also important, he said. As we, as a field, make strides toward developing new MAP hydrogels for tissue engineering, we must look at the effects of both degradability and cell-binding proteins to best utilize these materials for regenerative medicine.

Other contributors to the research include Shangjing Xin from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M and Carl A. Gregory from the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

This research was supported by funds from theNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseasesof the National Institutes of Health.

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Researchers Explore Hydrogels That Are Promising Materials For Delivering Therapeutic Cells - Texas A&M University