Stem Cell Clinic

Stem-cell treatment restores sight to blind man

By adminMay 21, 2013Stem Cell Treatment

An experimental stem-cell treatment has restored the sight of a man blinded by the degeneration of his retinal cells. The man, who is taking part in a trial examining the safety of using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to reverse two common causes of blindness, can now see well enough to be allowed to drive.

People undergoing treatment had reported modest improvements in vision earlier in the trial, which began in 2011, but this individual has made especially dramatic progress. The vision in his affected eye went from 20/400 essentially blind to 20/40, which is considered sighted.

"There's a guy walking around who was blind, but now can see," says Gary Rabin, chief executive officer of Advanced Cell Technology, the company in Marlborough, Massachusetts that devised the treatment. "With that sort of vision, you can have a driver's licence."

In all, the company has so far treated 22 patients who either have dry age-related macular degeneration, a common condition that leaves people with a black hole in the centre of their vision, or Stargardt's macular dystrophy, an inherited disease that leads to premature blindness. The company wouldn't tell New Scientist which of the two diseases the participant with the dramatic improvement has.

In both diseases, people gradually lose retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. These are essential for vision as they recycle protein and lipid debris that accumulates on the retina, and supply nutrients and energy to photoreceptors the cells that capture light and transmit signals to the brain.

The company is testing treatments for both conditions by turning hESCs into fresh RPE cells, then giving each trial participant a transplant of the cells beneath the retina in one eye.

Although the aim of the trial is primarily to check that the stem cells are safe, participants have reported improvements in their sight. The company intends to publish the outcomes in full when all the results are in.

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Stem-cell treatment restores sight to blind man

Blind man's sight restored by stem cell treatment

By adminMay 21, 2013Stem Cell Treatment

A blind man had his vision restored by an experimental stem cell treatment -- going from 20/400 to 20/40.

Intermediate age-related macular degeneration in a human eye. (Credit National Eye Institute/National Institutes of Health)

People undergoing an experimental stem-cell treatment have experienced modest improvements in their vision since the trial began in 2011, but one man had his vision restored from 20/400 -- basically blind -- to 20/40.

"There's a guy walking around who was blind, but now can see," said Gary Rabin, CEO of Advanced Cell Technology, the Massachusetts company that devised the treatment. "With that sort of vision, you can have a driver's license."

The man was taking part in a trial examining the safety of using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to reverse two common causes of blindness, reports New Scientist.

In all, ACT has treated 22 patients who either have dry age-related macular degeneration, a common condition that leaves people with a black hole in the centre of their vision, or Stargardt's macular dystrophy, an inherited disease that leads to premature blindness.

In both diseases, people gradually lose retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. These cells recycle protein and lipid debris that accumulates on the retina, and supply nutrients and energy to photoreceptors -- the cells that sense light and transmit signals to the brain.

The company is testing treatments for both conditions by turning hESCs into new RPE cells, then giving each trial participant a transplant of the cells beneath the retina in one eye.

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Blind man's sight restored by stem cell treatment

Breakthrough in cloning stem cells – Stem Cell Cafe

By adminMay 21, 2013Stell Cell Research

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) A human embryo, containing about a couple hundred cells, is smaller than the period at the end of a sentence. Scientists need strong microscopes to see these precursors to life, and to take from them stem cells, which have the potential to become any cell in the body.

Earlier this week a breakthrough in this field was announced. A group of researchers published in the journal Cell proof that they had created embryonic stem cells through cloning. The scientists produced embryos using human skin cells, and then used the embryos to produce stem cell lines.

It is an incredibly powerful approach with potential to generate almost any tissue in the body, genetically identical to the patient, said Jeff Karp, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Therapeutics at the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.

Creating an embryo just from an egg and a skin cell seems like magic, but just how practical would the subsequent stem cells be? And does it actually amount to cloning?

What they did

Normally, an embryo is created when sperm enters the egg and it starts to divide. But, in the Cell study, Shoukhrat Mitalipov and colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University began with skin cells from an 8-month-old baby that had a genetic disease. They did not use sperm.

To create each embryo, they took the DNA out of an egg, so that it was hollow, and replaced it with the skin cells DNA instead. The babys DNA was the only genetic material being used.

With the help of chemicals, the egg started to divide just like a normal fertilized egg would. Then, within several days, embryos genetically identical to the baby were created, from which stem cells were derived.

Embryonic stems research is inherently controversial because in order to use the stem cells for science, the embryo, which is a collection of cells that could develop into a fully formed human, is destroyed, even though embryos in these procedures are left over from in vitro fertilization.

Bringing a New Stem Cell Treatment to Cancer Patients: Dr. Karen Aboody, M.D. at TEDxAJU – Video

By adminMay 20, 2013Stem Cell Treatment

Bringing a New Stem Cell Treatment to Cancer Patients: Dr. Karen Aboody, M.D. at TEDxAJU
Dr. Aboody is an Associate Professor both in the Department of Neurosciences and Division of Neurosurgery at City of Hope. Her research focuses on using stem...

By: TEDxTalks

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Bringing a New Stem Cell Treatment to Cancer Patients: Dr. Karen Aboody, M.D. at TEDxAJU - Video

Sports Medicine New Frontiers: Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) and Stem Cell Therapy

By adminMay 20, 2013Stem Cell Treatment

CLEARWATER, Fla., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sports Medicine is always at the forefront of innovative medical technology. Athletes are constantly striving to improve. Records are broken as humans run faster, jump higher, and strive for higher levels of performance. Athletes expose their bodies to more wear and tear as performance increases. Scientific training principles and diet have changed drastically over time. Technological breakthroughs have also impacted the rehabilitation process. The use of regenerative medicine has grown significantly in recent years. The popularity of Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) has escalated as many high profile elite athletes from a diverse array of sports have opted for this treatment. The likes of Kobe Bryant, Rafael Nadal, and Tiger Woods garner ample press coverage when they are treated for injuries. Stem Cell Therapy becomes headlines when Peyton Manning undergoes this treatment. The goal of regenerative medicine therapies is to aid the body to heal itself. Understanding and accepting stem cell therapies for athletic injuries and sports medicine is gathering keen interest.

Dr. Dennis Lox, http://www.drlox.com a Sports and Regenerative Medicine Physician in the Tampa Bay Florida area, comments that the scientific backdrop of cell signaling and inflammatory mediators has led to a new understanding of how tissues heal. This also explains why injured tissues fail to heal, and is why the aging athlete recovers and heals more slowly than his younger counterpart. It is felt that the use of growth factors in Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) is a localized cellular response to control negative repair processes and direct healing toward a positive restorative pathway. This directional approach to control repair, is more complex in stem cells, and as such, may be more effective for healing injured tissue. The stem cells are the body's repair cells that direct the necessary patterns of cellular messenger signals to target the repair process. It is not a simple chemical reaction where two chemicals react and one outcome results. There are a myriad of complicated molecules that interact to direct the repair process, and to counter the effects of a multitude of other molecules and signals regulating the breakdown or degradation of tissue. Dr. Lox points out, it is overcoming the many undesirable messages that occur with injury, whereby regenerative medicine may enhance sports injury recovery. Athletes are in need of rapid recovery to avoid losing peak conditioning. Aging athletes do not heal as effectively. Finding successful measures to aid the body in the healing naturally, is desirable for athletes and in preventing degenerative arthritis. Understanding the scientific rationale for the use of Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) and Stem Cell Therapy, may pave the way for the expansive role for these treatments in future directions for athletic injury.

About Dr. Dennis Lox Dr. Lox practices in the Tampa Bay Florida area. Dr. Lox is a Sports and Regenerative Medicine Physician, who specializes in the use of regenerative and restorative medicine to assist in treating athletic and arthritis conditions. Dr. Lox may be reached at (727) 462-5582 or visit Drlox.com.

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Sports Medicine New Frontiers: Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) and Stem Cell Therapy

BioRestorative Therapies Signs Agreement with Dexterity, Inc. to Advance Production of the Company's Novel brtxDISC™ …

By adminMay 20, 2013Stem Cell Treatment

JUPITER, Fla., May 20,2013 /PRNewswire/ --BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT" or the "Company") (OTCBB: BRTX),a life sciences company focused on developing stem cell based therapies for various personal applications, announces the signing of a consulting agreement with Dexterity, Inc. ("Dexterity"). Dexterity is a product design and bioengineering firm that will provide services to further the development and production of BRT's proprietary therapeutic delivery device for its intervertebral disc stem cell therapy program, "brtxDISC," (Disc Implanted Stem Cells).

Dexterity's work is intended to advance the design and production of the disc therapeutic delivery device, towards a final version, to be eventually used in a clinical trial as a stem cell delivery system for the treatment of bulging and herniated discs. BRT expects to have a pre-IND/IDE meeting with the FDA to discuss the clinical trial by fourth quarter of this year.

The Company's brtxDISC program is being developed as an alternative to surgical intervention for patients suffering from bulging or herniated discs and could bridge the gap between non-invasive and invasive surgical back procedures. The therapy is a regeneration repair process using a patient's own stem cells that are implanted using BRT's proprietary therapeutic delivery device. The Company has data on treated humans in the U.S. and is compiling results in preparation for clinical trials in the U.S.

"We are very excited to be working with BioRestorative Therapies on the development of its novel, proprietary brtxDISC intervertebral disc stem cell therapy," commented Eric Simon, President of Dexterity. "Our experience with laparascopic and catheter-based devices, cell culture systems, and drug-delivery devices will assist in advancing the development and production of BRTX's disc stem cell delivery device as the company moves through its next phase of clinical trials."

"We are fortunate to be working with Dexterity," commented Mark Weinreb, Chief Executive Officer of BioRestorative Therapies. "With their depth of experience in 3D-CAD, biomaterials, and advanced prototyping and manufacturing, they are the perfect partner to work on the design and final engineering of our medical disc delivery device. We are confident our device will have the performance and quality to operate as intended and will be commercial-ready when we are able to launch our brtxDISC program."

About Dexterity, Inc.

Dexterity, Inc. is a full-service product design and development resource. The company has extensive experience in the design of tangible goods in the medical/biotechnical, consumer, and industrial markets. Dexterity specializes in 3D-Solids CAD modeling and analysis, employing rapid prototyping and tooling technologies to accelerate products to market. Dexterity's broad manufacturing experience assists its clients in designing toward the appropriate production technology for its clients and consumers needs. The company has designed and implemented a diverse range of medical and biotechnical products including in-vitro diagnostic systems, laparoscopic instrumentation, high-performance cell culture ware, drug-delivery devices, and various implantable products.

About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc.

BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ("BRT"), http://www.biorestorative.com, develops medical procedures using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells, designed for patients to undergo minimally invasive cellular-based treatments. BRT is developing the following scientific initiatives:

The Company also offers plant stem cell-based facial creams and beauty products under the Stem Pearls brand at http://www.stempearls.com.

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BioRestorative Therapies Signs Agreement with Dexterity, Inc. to Advance Production of the Company's Novel brtxDISC™ ...

RNL BIO and Human Biostar to Offer Direct-to-Consumer Adult Stem Cell Banking in the United States

By adminMay 20, 2013Stem Cell Treatment

SEOUL, South Korea, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- RNL BIO Co. Ltd., a stem cell biotechnology company dedicated to the commercialization of autologous cell therapyproducts for a variety of degenerative, ischemic and other indications, announces the availability of adult stem cell banking in the United States beginning on June 20, 2013. RNL BIO previously offered these services through another company, but will now provide the latest, safest technologies directly. As the sole global provider of its stem cell banking services, RNL BIO will provide clients with continuous quality assurance and constant innovation in adult stem cell technologies.

RNL BIO operates facilities in Maryland, Los Angeles and a FDA-registered stem cell banking facility in the Houston, Texas metroplex. It has opened a 15,000 square foot GMP laboratory facility in Sugar Land, Texas with extensive, state-of-the-art stem cell research and banking equipment, staffed by highly qualified scientists.

No human mesenchymal stem cell-based drug is presently approved for treatment in the United States. The only pathway to legal stem cell therapy is through FDA-approved clinical trials. RNL BIO has filed anInvestigational New Drug application (IND) with the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) atthe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin clinical trials with its adipose-derived stem cell product,termed Jointstem, for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Phase 2 clinical trials of Jointstem and another autologous stem cell-based biologic Vascostem (for treatment of Buerger's disease)have been completed under the authority of the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) in Seoul, Korea. Having reached this stage, RNL BIO filed New Drug Applications (NDA) to authorize the clinical use of these mesenchymal stem cell products in Korea. RNL BIO will be working with the FDA to determine what level of investigational availability is possible for its adult stem cell biologics in certain intractable and incurable diseases where no other therapeutic modality is available.

"We are happy to begin providing clients in the United States with our stem cell banking services," said Jeong-Chan Ra, Ph.D., the CEO and Chairman of RNL BIO. "We want to advance both banking and FDA-approved uses of stem cell technology." During 2011-13, RNL BIO has published its studies in more than 20 articles in major peer-reviewed journals. "We are following the pathways to regulatory approval so that our banking program can expand to include approved biologics for use in the United States and Europe."

ACCESS TO BANKING

RNL BIO provides stem cells to physicians whose patients request that they be obtained, however RNL BIO and Human Biostar are not offering stem cell therapeutics in the United States. RNL BIO is joining with U.S. hospitals and physicians in its banking services and to researchers in its bench and clinical trial activities.

About RNL Bio

RNL BIO is a South Korean biotechnology company focused on the research and development of adult derived stem celltechnologies. Its autologous, adipose-derived human mesenchymal stem cell technology, anchored by its unique stem cell culture media, is the subject of patents and patent applications in more than 30 nations and has been the subject of many scientific studies and peer-reviewed publications. The story of RNL BIO, its Chairman and its experiences with the use of stem cells in the clinical setting is the subject of the 2012 book, The grace of stem cells: a story of science and faith by J.C. Ra, available at bookstores and from Amazon.

Safe Harbor: This article may contain forward looking statements including projections and business trends. Actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are made based upon information available as of the date hereof, and the company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements. Consequently, the reader is cautioned to consider all forward-looking statements in light of the risks to which they are subject.

For more information visithttp://www.rnl.co.kr/eng/main.asp, which is not part of this press release.

Embryonic stem cells made from skin – Stem Cell Cafe

By adminMay 20, 2013Stell Cell Research

US researchers have reported a breakthrough in stem cell research, describing how they have turned human skin cells into embyronic stem cells for the first time.

The method described by Oregon State University scientists on Wednesday in the journal Cell, would not likely be able to create human clones, said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, senior scientist at the Oregon National Primate Research Centre.

But it is an important step in research because it does not require the use of embryos in creating the type of stem cell capable of transforming into any other type of cell in the body.

The technique involves transplanting an individuals DNA into an egg cell that has been stripped of genetic material, a variation of a method called somatic cell nuclear transfer.

A thorough examination of the stem cells derived through this technique demonstrated their ability to convert just like normal embryonic stem cells, into several different cell types, including nerve cells, liver cells and heart cells, said Mitalipov.

He added that since the reprogrammed cells use genetic material from the patient, there is no concern about transplant rejection.

While there is much work to be done in developing safe and effective stem cell treatments, we believe this is a significant step forward in developing the cells that could be used in regenerative medicine, Mitalipov said.

Years of research on monkey cells using the same technique have not successfully produced any monkey clones.

Since the human cells used in the study appeared even more fragile, researchers said it was unlikely clones could be made.

While nuclear transfer breakthroughs often lead to a public discussion about the ethics of human cloning, this is not our focus, nor do we believe our findings might be used by others to advance the possibility of human reproductive cloning, they said.

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Embryonic stem cells made from skin – Stem Cell Cafe

Time to legislate on stem cells – Stem Cell Cafe

By adminMay 20, 2013Stell Cell Research

May 20

The news of another breakthrough in Oregon in stem-cell technology the cloning of embryos using human tissues and then the ability to harvest stem cells from them opens up new possibilities in the personalisation of therapeutic cloning. But, closer to home, it serves to draw attention once again to the lacunae in Irish law that have left most of a field of fast-developing research and the whole area of assisted reproduction unregulated, Irish scientists unable to pursue cutting edge science, funding withheld, and potential patients vulnerable to unscrupulous scientists.

Ironically the breakthrough comes as our legislators battle with abortion legislation. Both issues, tied up as they are with thorny ethical issues around where life begins and when and how embryos acquire rights, are equally politically toxic. Both have also been the subject of urgent injunctions from the frustrated courts to politicians to fulfil their responsibility to legislate. Both, crucially, also require a willingness and courage on the part of politicians to move beyond absolutist moral positions to a new legislative ethics based on pluralist values and real social needs .

Having grasped one nettle, abortion legislation, is it too much to ask our politicians to do the same with bioethics stem cell research and provision for assisted reproduction, specifically in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)? Two reports, from the Government- appointed Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction and from the Irish Council for Bioethics, the first going back to 2005, proposed practical, conservative, guidelines for legislation that respect most of the sensitivities around ethical concerns over the production of embryos for research purposes. Crucially, they would limit researchers to using embryos that are surplus to requirements in the IVF process and which would otherwise be discarded/destroyed.

In the interim the Supreme Court in Roche v Roche (2009) has facilitated such legislation by clarifying the point at which it views the foetus as acquiring constitutional protection implantation in the womb. Any earlier and embryonic stem cell research, IVF, and contraceptives based on preventing implantation, including the day-after pill, would have been prohibited. Of course, the absence of a constitutional protection for the early embryo does not mean an easy consensus will be reached. As the abortion debate has shown, many are only too willing to challenge and flatly deny the courts interpretations, but its thoughtful ruling in Roche can provide a coherent rationale for the emerging middle ground of legislators and for carefully limited legislative provision for stem cell research and assisted reproduction.

It understood that legislation is currently being drafted by the Department of Health. It is now long overdue.

Read more here: Time to legislate on stem cells

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Time to legislate on stem cells – Stem Cell Cafe

Scientists clone human stem cells for the first time – Stem Cell Cafe

By adminMay 19, 2013Stell Cell Research

For all its promise, embryonic stem cell research has been slow going in the last few decades. Ethical quandaries and scientific difficulty have conspired to keep the next big advance just out of reach, but a new study published this week in the journal Cell could kick off a new age of interest in stem cell therapies. Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University have managed to clone human embryonic stem cells using unfertilized eggs and human skin cells.

The process is very similar to the method used over a decade ago to clone Dolly the sheep, but the aim here was not to produce a human clone. Rather, scientists wanted to make a line of stem cells that would not be rejected by a recipients own immune system, In fact, according to Professor Shoukhrat Mitalipov from Oregon Health & Science University, it is unlikely the embryos used in the study had any hope of developing into viable human clones.

To create these new stem cell lines, researchers removed the DNA from donated unfertilized human eggs. A skin cell from a different individual was then inserted into the egg cell. The trick that made this advance possible is in finding a way to entice that cell to begin dividing. Mitalipov and his team eventually found that exposure to precisely-timed electric pulses and a chemical bath with a bit of caffeine did the trick.

The result is a small bundle of embryonic stem cells that match the genotype of the skin cell donor, not the egg donor. Stem cells created in this process are known as pluripotent, because they can differentiate to become a wide variety of cell types. They could conceivably be turned into cardiac muscle, nerve cells, pancreatic cells, or any number of other tissues to treat disease.

Additionally, the maturation process is well established for the cells in this study. They actually appear to become functional adult cells when harvested. Researchers even managed to create cardiac cells that contract just like the real thing. Previous stem cell discoveries using only regressed skin cells come with many unanswered questions, thus the continued use of human embryos.

Having a way to manufacture stem cells that match a persons DNA is revolutionary in stem cell therapy. If you implant cells that dont match someones genotype, they are likely to be rejected. This is why transplant patients must take immunosuppressive drugs. This process could lead to treatments where doctors create new tissues to treat patients that are essentially their own cells.

Other researchers are anxious to attempt the process themselves, and hopefully confirm Mitalipovs results. The entire paper is online if you want to check it out.

Now read:Scientists end our dreams of cloning dinosaurs

Excerpt from: Scientists clone human stem cells for the first time

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Scientists clone human stem cells for the first time – Stem Cell Cafe