Improving techniques

I just came across the article where the team of scientist at Harvard University have claimed to develop a new way of transforming adult cells into stem cells without the usage of harmful viruses that can lead to cancer. They have used a totally new type of virus which can transform cells without the hassle of genetic alterations. This type of virus was never used in the stem cell production. The main benefit of this technique is that it rules out the usage of retroviruses which are used for the production of iPS i.e. induced pluripotent stem cells, which cause genetic alterations. Shinya Yamanaka, who led one of the teams at Kyoto University in Japan, first demonstrated the technique using mouse cells last year. Only with such efforts, is the research in the enormous field of stem cell possible.
So also scientists are actively searching for various chemicals that may used instead of the viruses that lead to genetic alterations. The main hurdles before scientists are transforming cells into stem cells free from genetic alterations and then perfecting the technique to transform these cells into any cells of the body. But techniques like these and iPS have ruled out the possibility of misuse of cells for cloning.
The research has still a long way to go but with efforts like these can the research advance with fruitful returns.

Updated Stem Cell Guidelines Released

On 5th September 2008 The National Academics released guidelines for the Human embryonic stem cell research, basically updating the issues tackled in 2005 and 2007. Technically speaking the guidelines are important since a lot of research is going on in the stem cell field and if all the efforts taking place are streamlined then the research can be effectively boosted. Plus there should be some ethical barriers which should not be crossed.

Some of the guidelines, right from the year 2005 are as follows, Embryonic stem cell research oversight (ESCRO) committees should be established which includes legal and ethical experts, as well as representatives of the public, and experts in biology and stem cell research. Stem cells are usually harvested from a blastocyst. The proposals for research on this should reviewed by the ESCRO committees. Nuclear transfer must not be used for reproductive cloning. Human embryos used for research should not be grown in culture for longer than 14 days, Donor consent must be obtained at all times and which can be withdrawn at any point of time before the stem cell lines are obtained. The donors should not be paid. ESCRO committee should maintain records of the produced stem cell lines and the medical history of donors. . As a good management practice that institutions conducting human embryonic stem cell research are asked to carry out periodic audits of their ESCRO committees to ensure proper performance and make the findings of the audits available to the public. These are some of the points mentioned in the guidelines

The need for the Updated was due to the introduction of ips (induced pluripotent cells) (Discovered by the genius Shinya Yamanaka )which are made by reprogramming non embryonic adult cells into a stem-cell-like state and can be further used to develop other functional cells. The one thing that i liked personally about the whole report was that the public must be made aware by the various research institutions about the research that they are carrying out. This in turn can help boost the public support for the reseach work so also the number of people adapting the stem cell way of cure will increase.

The complete set of guidelines are avaliable on the National Academics web page.