Vellore research centre makes stem cell breakthrough
9 Mar 2009, 0054 hrs IST, Jaya Menon, TNN
VELLORE: It's a breakthrough that may have the country's medical and
scientific community sitting up and taking notice. The Centre for Stem
Cell Research at Christian Medical College has succeeded in
reprogramming cells drawn from adult mice and making them function like
stem cells found in the human embryo.
It has opened a new chapter in stem cell therapy in the country, as the
technology can now be applied to generate similar stem cells from adult
human cells too. These can be used to study genetic disorders relating
to blood, muscle, brain and even diseases like diabetes. The use of
embryos to draw stem cells has been the subject of a controversy, and
the latest discovery may mean that embryos need not necessarily be used
in the process.
''This is an important milestone for India in stem cell research and
signifies a paradigm shift in the way diseases can be treated. We will
now begin work on human cells to generate disease-specific iPS cells to
study hereditary diseases,'' Dr Alok Srivastava, who heads the research
centre, said.
''For India, this means once we are able to take this on to human cells
also; we will not have to rely on external help for generating models
for studying and treating human diseases. With regard to clinical
significance, as anywhere else in the world, we need to be very careful
not to give an impression to people that this is going into human
treatment anytime soon. It could be years before that happens and it
will be only after the safety of use of such cells is clearly
established,'' he said.
In February, the research centre, supported by the department of
biotechnology, ministry of science and technology and CMC, was
successful in generating in mice these ''induced pluripotent stem (iPS)
cells'' which are similar to embryonic stem cells. Researchers will soon
move on to generating similar cells from normal and diseased human
cells.
The centre looks primarily at translational research - research that has
potential for clinical applications.
Embryonic stem cells have great capacity for self-renewal and are used
in regenerative medicine and tissue replacement. The induced pluripotent
stem (iPS) cells generated at the research centre may have the same
potential, researchers say. India is the fifth country, after Japan, US,
China and Britain, to achieve these results.
The iPS technology is relatively new and acknowledged worldwide as the
''ultimate manufacturing process''. Scientists can now use the human
skin or other cells like an assembly line to roll off cells that have
the ability to adapt themselves to any tissue in the body that requires
healing or replenishment.
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