Chocked!!

On the morning of 27th August 2010 the NIH (National Institutes of Health) ordered the immediate shutdown of all intramural labs associated with embryonic stem cell research. The NIH had 8 project running, using hESc lines which were approved by the Bush administration. It is a sad day as judges and politicians make use of various loop holes in the system to ban potential life saving research. Although less effective at the clinical level at the moment, stem cell research will open new horizons for curing various degenerative diseases which are thought to be incurable at the moment. I always thought America to be a free and progressive country that readily accepts change and embraces new technologies on a daily basis. But such actions wont just hinder research but also destroy potential therapeutic uses even before they even begin to breath. For now System-1, Stem Cell Research-0.

Reference :- http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/08/nih-orders-immediate-shutdown.html

Uncharted Lands

Potential Stem Cell Treatments

Reference: www.wikipedia.com

Steps are being taken for stem cell transplants for curing various types of degenerative diseases which is the first of its types. Even as scientists around the world are recovering from the shock of the temporary cut off of federal funding, new hope is seen on the horizon for stem cell research as scientists from USA and China are looking forward to test the regenerative capacity of stem cells on humans for the very first time. There are numerous questions to be answered, like will they be successful? or will they become carcinogenic. But the scenario is India is quiet different, many doctors are actually injecting stem cells on a regular basis; of course with the aim of curing degenerative diseases. The only thing concerning here is no appropriate research has been carried out to test if the outcome will be successful in this setting or if tumor formation is expected. Mostly these trails are carried out by top researchers, doctors and scientists who willing part with information with regards to their trails but there are others who are not qualified enough to perform these procedures and such trials might even become the root cause of  fear within the society about this type of cure; even before the actual potential of stem cells for countering such diseases is tapped.

Reference:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/29/AR2010082901854.html

Halted,,,,,,AGAIN!!!

                                    

Just when the hope for stem cell research and regenerative medicine was starting to revive in the United States, chief judge Royce Lambert has applied a temporary injunction banning all federal funding for stem cell research. As usual the primary point taken into consideration is "research based on destroying embryos". This has resulted in halting several key researches presently functional at various states in America. This is also a huge blow to the Obama administration which had overruled the previous ban on embryonic stem cell research. Scientists across the States are awaiting the final decision which could very well results in temporary shutting down of various labs. The final outcome will decide the fate of embryonic stem cell research in USA.


Reference: http://www.worldnewsheardnow.com/chief-judge-royce-lambert-stops-goverment-funding-of-stem-cell-research/1785/

World Stem Cell Summit

The world stem cell summit is commencing on 4th of October 2010, at Marriott Renaissance Center, Detroit Michigan USA. The programme is scheduled to be till the 6th of October 2010. As always it will attract a wide range of people from various stratas of society concerned in one way or other with research in this filed. Poster abstract submission deadline is 27th August. For more information visit "http://www.worldstemcellsummit.com/".
Best wishes to all participating in this.

New Insights into IPS technology

Australian Scientists at the University of New South Wales have come up with a radical solution which could very well solve one of the drawbacks of iPS technology which was carcinogenesis. The group of scientists led by A/Prof. Kuldip Sidhu have come up with this solution which involves use of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, and human embryonic stem cell (hESC) extracts, on HFF's (Human foreskin fibroblasts) which has been reported to be reprogrammed back to hESC like cells and further differentiated into neuronal lineages. Such treatment will pave the way for treating incurable diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's where the only thing required off the patient will be a skin sample.

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/aussie-scientists-in-stem-cell-first/story-e6frf7jx-1225907560244

Paper: on PLoS ONE... "A Combined Epigenetic and Non-Genetic Approach for

Reprogramming Human Somatic Cells

Jinnuo Han, Perminder S. Sachdev, Kuldip S. Sidhu*"