Taking "baby steps"

Hi Friends, sitting at home and doing nuthin can be quite frustrating. I was just browsing through net as usual when i came across an article where recently a research was carried out proving the existence of stem cells in Uterus. Suddenly it dawned upon me that an upcoming topic like stem cells presently has very little applications in India. Its like we are just beginning to tap the infinite potentials of stem cells. The research i was talking about was carried jointly by Dr. Ramesh Bhonde scientist at NCCS (National Centre for Cell Sciences) Pune and Dr. Satish Patki (Gynaecologist based in Kolhapur). The two desi researchers, who claim to have found a new source of adult stem cells have succeeded in converting cells procured from the female genital tract (uterus, fallopian tubes and endometrium) into cells of other organs such as pancreas, brain, liver, kidney, fat and even the heart in the laboratory. A researcher from Australia had in September 2007, shown the presence of stem cells in the endometrium, but Dr Patki says this is the first discovery of stem cells in the entire female genital tract. I was so excited by this that i had to meet him in person. An opportunity came knocking at my door itself, though i had to undergo a lot of pain to get his number and contact him but it was worth the effort. Dr Patki had come down for an interview in Mumbai and he was ready for a rendezvous. The experience was magnificent, Dr Patki the enthusiastic person that he is readily showed me his research work. It was amazing to see stem cells forming functional Cardiac and Neuronal cells. As i was looking at the videos it suddenly hit me, doesn't this make you feel like someone with great power and control over life? Gets a bit scary sometimes but realising the potential and utilising it for the betterment of mankind is the important thing and this drives me to get into this field.

Like i said the stem cell scene in India is just building up. Giants like Reliance have taken steps and started huge and fully functional projects like RIL(Reliance Life Science). An awesome institution worth visiting! Even various private institutes are coming up and even people are starting to realise the potential of the stem cells and the number of people donating stem cells and placenta has gone up.The only problem we are facing at this stage is lack of experienced and properly trained manpower. But i think 4-5 years down the line this will be solved and even we can compete with research giants like UK, US, Canada and other European countries.