Regeneration | SilverScorpio.Com

The Inside Line: Mayor Visits Apprentices as Council Creates Jobs

June 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Young people from Middlesbrough striving for a career in the motor industry have
received a major boost with the creation of a number of paid training roles.
LONDON–(Business Wire)–
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has teamed up with leading skills provider
System Training to invest money into the employment of young people aged 16-19
in the area. Mayor Ray Goddard and the Lady Mayoress took time to meet
apprentices and their training team at System Training`s facility at Queensway,
Middlesborough.

Eighteen apprentices have been placed on funded Fast Fit Apprenticeships with
System Training, which sees the youngsters undertake the first phase of a
potential three-year apprenticeship that gives them upfront practical training
in various aspects of the industry as well as providing classroom-based learning
that leads to nationally-recognised qualifications and an opportunity to move
into full-time employment upon completion of the course.

The innovative apprenticeship model and allows candidates to make a genuine
contribution to potential employers from the moment they start work.

In addition to the apprenticeship roles, System Training has expanded its
presence in Middlesbrough and taken on four new members of staff at its local
office – an administrator, an apprentice co-ordinator and two vocational
trainers – meaning additional quality jobs have been created in the area.

With 200 candidates now placed with a variety of different training providers
borough-wide, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council is pleased its partnerships are
delivering employment and contributing to the overall regeneration of the
region.

Ray Goddard, The Mayor of Redcar & Cleveland, said:
“We`ve been delighted with the enthusiasm and commitment of the apprentices and
it clearly shows the desire of young people in the region to work. Our Routes to
Employment team and System Training have worked closely together to deliver this
exciting new initiative to offer training and employment opportunities to our
young residents in the motor vehicle repair trade.”

Tony Higgins of System Training said: 
“It`s a great achievement for us to help create some many jobs for young people
in the region. The model is new and our approach has ensured that apprentices
are fully trained when they go into their work placements, reducing the risk for
employers and actually allowing the apprentices to make a real difference at
work.”

This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com

Further information on System Training and its training and workforce
development solutions is available from:
Stephanie Norman
t: 01228 574024
e: Stephanie.norman@system-training.com

Follow System Training on Twitter at www.twitter.com/systemtraining

Media contact:
Glenn Patterson
The Inside Line
m: 07872 470115
e: glenn@the-inside-line.co.uk

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Recipe for making sensory hair cells from stem cells found

May 14, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, May 14 (ANI): A ten year long research has led scientists to discover the recipe for hearing— a way to coax embryonic stem cells as well as reprogrammed adult cells to develop into sensory cells that normally reside in the mammalian inner ear.

Those mechanosensitive sensory hair cells are the linchpin of hearing and balance.

Assuming their recipe can be further perfected to reliably generate hair cells in the millions, it opens the door to detailed molecular studies on the cells and new insight into the molecular basis for hearing, according to the researchers.

Stefan Heller of Stanford University School of Medicine said that is especially significant, because the “inner ear shelters the last of our senses for which the molecular basis is unknown.”

Such understanding could also set researchers on a path to discovering new ways to prevent or correct hearing loss by encouraging hair cells” regeneration.

After all, the researchers say, our inability to regenerate lost hair cells is the major reason for the permanence of hearing loss as well as certain balance disorders.

Scientists have been left in the dark on the molecular basis for hearing in large part because hair cells are relatively scarce by comparison to other sensory cells, explained Heller.

Our inner ears harbour about 30,000 sensory hair cells in total in two different types, few of which can be dissected out of the inner ear and kept alive for study.

Heller”s team long ago realized that one solution to this problem was to use stem cells as a source for generating new hair cells, and now they”ve got the recipe.

They have devised what they refer to as a stepwise guidance protocol for making the hearing cells, starting with either mouse embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are stem cell-like cells derived from adult mouse cells.

The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication. (ANI)

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Forestry says smoke blame misdirected

March 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Forestry Tasmania has criticised the Wilderness Society for blaming yesterday’s northern smoke haze problems on regeneration burns.

The Environmental Protection Authority and weather bureau believe the smoke that spread from St Helens to Ulverstone came across Bass Strait from planned burns in Victoria.

The company says it did not conduct any fuel reduction or regeneration burns in the region yesterday.

Forestry’s General Manager of Operations, Paul Smith, says the Wilderness Society put a sign outside its Launceston shop blaming Forestry Tasmania.

Mr Smith says a green waste fire at the Devonport tip may have also contributed to some smoke in that area.

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Natural hydrogel may boost spinal cord healing

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): A jab of biomaterial gel into a spinal cord injury site may significantly improve healing, according to researchers at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

Dr. Mark Preul and Dr. Alyssa Panitch have found in a study that injection of an engineered hydrogel made up mainly of hyaluronic acid (a naturally-occurring body substance) into the spinal cord injury site decreases scarring, and promotes a realignment of the spinal cord fibres around the injury site.

The hyaluronic acid, which forms a scaffold-like configuration may help to structurally stabilize the spinal cord injury site.

The researchers traced cells in the brain stem after injury, and found much higher levels in the hydrogel treated animals as compared to animals that did not receive the treatment, and approached nearly normal levels.

Treated animals had higher functional scores than their non-treated counterparts.

“Spinal cord injury is devastating to civilian and military populations – especially to the young. There has been little progress toward paradigms of regeneration and few results that show real, sustained functional recovery. We’ve been so pre-occupied with regeneration, but that is a highly complicated and difficult to define goal. This project is a synergy of neurosurgeons and bioengineers that attempts repair of the SCI lesion cavity using a tissue-engineering biomaterials approach,” says Preul.

He added that the team aimed at finding ways to structurally allow the body to better heal itself.

“In this project we did not add anything to the hyaluronic acid. It may be that adding growth factors or cells into the gel matrix may allow even better results,” he said.

Preul said that the results show “we may be on a practical path that can give hope to the many people who suffer this sort of injury.”

The work was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Diego where it won the Synthes Prize for Spine Research. (ANI)

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Vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Leicester and Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal have found that vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells and lead to better skin regeneration.

Previous research has shown that DNA repair is upregulated in people consuming vitamin C supplements.

In the new study, the researchers have provided some mechanistic evidence.

The researchers used affymetrix microarray, for looking at gene expression, and the ‘Comet’ assay to study DNA damage

“The exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation increases in summer, often resulting in a higher incidence of skin lesions. Ultraviolet radiation is also a genotoxic agent responsible for skin cancer, through the formation of free radicals and DNA damage,” said lead researcher Tiago Duarte, formerly of the University of Leicester, and now at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal.

“Our study analysed the effect of sustained exposure to a vitamin C derivative, ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AA2P), in human dermal fibroblasts.

“We investigated which genes are activated by vitamin C in these cells, which are responsible for skin regeneration.

“The results demonstrated that vitamin C may improve wound healing by stimulating quiescent fibroblasts to divide and by promoting their migration into the wounded area. Vitamin C could also protect the skin by increasing the capacity of fibroblasts to repair potentially mutagenic DNA lesions,” Duarte added.

The researchers hope that the results will be of great relevance to the cosmetics industry.

“The study indicates a mechanism by which vitamin C could contribute to the maintenance of a healthy skin by promoting wound healing and by protecting cellular DNA against damage caused by oxidation,” said Dr Marcus S. Cooke from the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Department of Genetics, at the University of Leicester.

“These findings are particular importance to our photobiology interests, and we will certainly be looking into this further,” Cooke added.

The findings have been published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. (ANI)

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New Cytotron treatment effective in treating cancer patients in Bangalore

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bangalore, Aug 28 (ANI): The new Cytotron treatment that includes use of radio frequency, high power non-ionizing, non-thermal electromagnetic waves instead of high frequency radiation has emerged as a popular therapy for cancer patients in Bangalore.

Developed by Rajah Vijay Kumar of India in 1987, the Cytotron device helps in tissue regeneration, degeneration and repair for the purposes of treating several chronic or degenerative diseases such as cancer and arthritis.

The treatment modality is non-invasive, painless and free from side effects.

Clinical test have shown that Cytotron is very effective in curing certain conditions such as a damaged knee by regenerating the cartilage tissue.

Dr. Nayar of Ojus Health Care, Bangalore, said that Cytotron treated patients have survived for a longer period than patients treated by other methods.

“When there is hardly any chance of survival after one year, those kind of patients have been taken for the clinical trials and from that we found that as against the expected 0-5 per cent may be surviving after one year. We got a very interesting and encouraging result of may be up to 50 per cent in different series. So 40-50 per cent to even may be little more per cent of people are able to survive year or more,” said Dr. Nayar.

Dr. Nayar also said that the treatment is safe and healthy cells are not affected in any way.

“This is something, which is very unique. It’s safe. It’s absolutely harmless and with this machine, we can target it to the exact depth in the body tissue,” said Dr. Nayar.

One such success story of Cytotron treatment is that of Abraham, a surgeon-cum-cancer patient.

Abraham, who is a patient of arthritis, has been undergoing the treatment for the past 15 days. He said that he has found improvement in his conditions and is now able to walk without any pain.

“I felt the difference, the swelling came down and the pain also reduced. I felt some sort of relief in that one. So the actual duration day told 21 days, so after 15 days of treatment, it’s comfortable and my all the symptoms got relieved. I am finding improvement in my condition,” said Abraham.

Doctors consider Cytotron as a useful method to treat cancer. By Shweta ANI)

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Salamanders’ regenerative ability similar to healing in humans

July 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 2 (ANI): While salamanders are known for their ability to regenerate lost limbs, damaged lungs, sliced spinal cord, and even bits of lopped-off brain, scientists have now shown that humans too possess a similar talent to heal themselves.

The remarkable discovery-by seven researchers, including a University of Florida zoologist-could help in learning how to replicate it in people.

The tiny amphibious creature’s outsized capabilities have long been credited to “pluripotent” cells.

Pluripotent cells are believed to be quite similar to human embryonic stem cells with the uncanny ability to morph into whatever appendage, organ or tissue happens to be needed or due for a replacement.

Debunking the above notion, the researchers have shown in experiments on genetically modified axolotl salamanders that cells from the their different tissues retain the “memory” of those tissues when they regenerate.

This contributed to the same type of tissue from where they came, other than a few exceptions.

Standard mammal stem cells operate the same way, but with far less dramatic results- they can heal wounds or knit bone together, but not regenerate a limb or rebuild a spinal cord.

The researchers have said that the findings are exiting because the human medical science could one day harness the salamander’s regenerative wonders.

“I think it’s more mammal-like than was ever expected. It gives you more hope for being able to someday regenerate individual tissues in people,” Nature quoted Malcolm Maden, a professor of biology and author of the paper, as saying.

Maden also said that the salamanders heal perfectly, without any scars whatsoever, another ability people would like to learn how to mimic.

He added that the findings would help researchers zero in on why salamander cells are capable of such remarkable regeneration.

“If you can understand how they regenerate, then you ought to be able to understand why mammals don’t regenerate,” he said. (ANI)

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Non-invasive stem cell procedure shows promise to repair heart tissue

May 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 29 (ANI): For the first time, researchers at the University at Buffalo have shown that it is possible to repair cardiac tissue and, in turn, reverse heart failure by injecting adult bone marrow stem cells into skeletal muscle.

The researchers used an animal model to demonstrate that the non-invasive procedure could increase myocytes, or heart cells, by two-fold and reduce cardiac tissue injury by 60 percent.

In addition, the therapy improved function of the left ventricle-the primary pumping chamber of the heart-by 40 percent.

It even reduced fibrosis-the hardening of the heart lining that impairs its ability to contract-by up to 50 percent.

“This work demonstrates a novel non-invasive mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapeutic regimen for heart failure based on an intramuscular delivery route,” said Dr. Techung Lee, UB associate professor of biochemistry and senior author on the paper.

Mesenchymal stem cells are found in the bone marrow, and can differentiate into a variety of cell types.

Lee said: “Injecting MSCs or factors released by MSCs improved ventricular function, promoted myocardial regeneration, lessened apoptosis (cell death) and fibrotic remodeling, recruited bone marrow progenitor cells and induced myocardial expression of multiple growth factor genes.

“These findings highlight the critical ‘cross-talks’ between the injected MSCs and host tissues, culminating in effective cardiac repair for the failing heart.

“An important feature of MSCs is their ability to produce a plethora of tissue healing effects, known as “tropic factors,” which can be harnessed for stem cell therapy for heart failure.

The multiple trophic factors produced by MSCs have already been shown to be capable of reducing tissue injury, inhibiting fibrosis, promoting angiogenesis, stimulating recruitment and proliferation of tissue stem cells, and reducing inflammatory oxidative stress, a common cause of cardiovascular disease and heart failure.

Lee added: “Since skeletal muscle is the most abundant tissue in the body and can withstand repeated injection of large number of stem cells, we thought it would be a good method to deliver MSCs. We hypothesized that MSCs, via secretion of these functionally synergistic trophic factors, would be able to rescue the failing heart even when delivered away from the myocardium.

“This study proves our hypothesis. We’ve demonstrated that injecting MSCs, or trophic factors released by MSCs, into skeletal muscle improved ventricular function, promoted regeneration of heart tissue, decreased cell death and improved other factors that cause heart failure.

“This non-invasive stem cell administration regimen, if validated clinically, is expected to facilitate future stem cell therapy for heart failure.”

The development has been reported in a paper appearing online in the Articles-in-Press section of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart Circulation Physiology. (ANI)

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Stem cells from fat tissue offer MS treatment hope

April 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 24 (ANI): Stem cells derived from a patient’s own fat tissue can offer an effective treatment against multiple sclerosis (MS), say researchers from University of California San Diego.

The researchers demonstrated the possible effectiveness of stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells in MS treatment.

“All three patients in our study showed dramatic improvement in their condition after the course of SVF therapy,” said lead researcher Dr. Boris Minev, from the Division of Neurosurgery, University of California San Diego.

“While obviously no conclusions in terms of therapeutic efficacy can be drawn from these reports, this first clinical use of fat stem cells for treatment of MS supports further investigations into this very simple and easily-implementable treatment methodology,” he added.

It is believed that SVF cells, and other stem cells, may be able to treat the condition by limiting the immune reaction and promoting the growth of new myelin sheath, which is often lost in MS.

“None of the presently available MS treatments selectively inhibit the immune attack against the nervous system, nor do they stimulate regeneration of previously damaged tissue. We’ve shown that SVF cells may fill this therapeutic gap,” said Minev.

First of the three patients, suffered frequent painful seizures for the previous three years, however after the treatment seizures had stopped completely and there were significant improvements in his cognition and a reduction of spasticity in his arms and legs.

The second patient reported improvements in his sense of balance and coordination, as well as an improved energy level and mood.

And the third one said his gait, balance and coordination improved dramatically over a period of several weeks.

The study appears in BioMed Central’s open access Journal of Translational Medicine. (ANI)

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Scientists identify molecule that prompts damaged heart to repair itself

April 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 11 (ANI): Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Centre have identified a molecule that prompts damaged heart cells to repair themselves after a heart attack.

The research team led by Drs. J. Michael DiMaio and Ildiko Bock-Marquette has discovered a molecule called, Thymosin beta-4 (TB4), which is expressed by embryos during the heart’s development and encourages migration of heart cells.

They showed that introducing TB4 systemically after a heart attack encourages new growth and repair of heart cells as early as 24 hours after systemic injection.

In the mouse study, researchers found that TB4 initiates capillary tube formation of adult coronary endothelial cells in tissue culture.

It also encourages cardiac regeneration by inhibiting death in heart cells after an injury such as a heart attack and by stimulating new vessel growth.

“This molecule has the potential to reprogram cells in the body to get them to do what you want them to do,” said Dr. DiMaio, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study.

“Obviously, the clinical implications of this are enormous because of the potential to reverse damage inflicted on heart cells after a heart attack,” he added.

“We observed that by injecting this protein systemically, there was increased cardiac function after a heart attack,” said Dr Bock-Marquette, assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at UT Southwestern and the study’s lead author.

“We hope this protein can inhibit cell death that occurs during a heart attack in the short term, and that it may initiate new growth of coronary vessels by activating progenitor cells in the long term,” Bock-Marquette added.

The researchers will be conducting further studies to examine whether the same events occur in larger mammals and which receptors are responsible for the action of this molecule.

The study appears in Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. (ANI)

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Compounds from fish oil may resolve periodontal inflammation

April 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, April 6 (ANI): Boston University scientists say that they have discovered a new family of biologically active products of omega-3 fatty acids, which can resolve periodontal inflammation and restore the gums to health.

The researchers point out that oil from fish contains eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both of which are omega-3 fatty acids.

They underscore the fact that these omega-3 fatty acids are often used to help people with various inflammatory conditions.

In a previous study, the researchers have already found that compounds derived from EPA provide protection against soft tissue and bone loss associated with gum disease, and restore the lost soft tissue and bone to healthy levels.

In their latest study, the Boston researchers conducted experiments to test the actions of compounds biosynthesized from DHA in regulating tissue destruction and resolution of inflammation in gum disease.

For their study, the researchers used the bacteria that cause human gum disease to stimulate a condition characterized by tissue inflammation and bone loss in rabbits.

The researchers found that compounds belonging to the two categories showed similar results in resolving periodontal inflammation and tissue regeneration.

These findings attain significance as the prevention of periodontal disease has been limited to successful oral hygiene and regular professional care to date, and despite such preventive actions, in susceptible individuals with a high inflammatory response, plaque control is not enough to prevent disease.

The Boston team made a presentation on their findings at the 87th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research. (ANI)

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Heart cells can develop into adulthood

April 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, April 3 (ANI): In what may eventually hold great significance for patients who have suffered myocardial damage as a result of a heart attack, a study has shown that cells in a human heart can develop into adulthood and their age is, on average, six years younger than the individual.

Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Karolinska Institute, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon, Lund University, and Lund University Hospital made these findings by using the amount of carbon 14 in the atmosphere from above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960.

Lead researcher Bruce Buchholz, however, point out that as humans age, the percentage of new heart cells decreases markedly.

By age 25, renewal of heart cells gradually decrease from 1 percent turning over annually to .45 percent by the age of 75. About 50 percent of the heart cells a human is born with will regenerate during a lifetime.

Buchholz used the Laboratory’s Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry to measure the amount of carbon 14 in DNA to establish the age of cardiac muscle cells in humans.

The researcher revealed that the study group determined the ages of heart cells by determining the time at which the sample’s carbon 14 concentration corresponded to the atmospheric concentration.

Buchholz and colleagues found that people born around or after the nuclear bomb tests corresponded to atmospheric concentrations several years after the subjects’ birth, indicating substantial postnatal DNA syntheses.

“By analysing individuals born at different times before 1955, it is possible to establish the age up to which DNA synthesis occurs, or whether it continues beyond that age,” the researcher said.

In the study, carbon 14 concentrations were elevated in subjects compared to those people born up to 22 years before the beginning of nuclear bomb tests.

“DNA of myocardial cells is synthesized many years after birth, indicating that cells in the human heart do, in fact, renew into adulthood,” Buchholz said.

“At the age of 50, 55 percent of the heart’s cells remain from the time around birth and 45 percent have been generated later,” the researcher added.

While the limited recovery in humans after a heart injury or attack indicates failing regeneration of heart cells, the researchers say that the renewal of heart cells, as indicated by the mixing of carbon 14 in the DNA, suggest that the development of pharmacological strategies to stimulate this process may be a rational alternative or complement to cell transplantation strategies for heart cell replacement.

The research appears in the journal Science. (ANI)

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Scientists discover ‘master regulator’ of skin formation

March 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 25 (ANI): A team of scientists at Oregon State University has identified a gene in the human body that seems to be the master regulator for skin development.

According to researchers, their discovery could help address everything from skin diseases such as eczema or psoriasis to the wrinkling of skin as people age.

Scientists believe that inadequate or loss of expression of this gene, called CTIP2, may play a role in some skin disorders and understanding the mechanisms of gene action could provide a solution to them.

“We found that CTIP2 is a transcriptional factor that helps control different levels of skin development, including the final phase of a protective barrier formation,” said Arup Indra, an OSU assistant professor of pharmacy.

“It also seems particularly important in lipid biosynthesis, which is relevant not only to certain skin diseases but also wrinkling and premature skin aging,” Indra added.

Skin is actually the largest organ in the human body, and has important functions in protecting people from infection, toxins, microbes and solar radiation.

However, it’s not static – skin cells are constantly dying and being replaced by new cells, to the extent that human skin actually renews its surface layers every three to four weeks. Wrinkles, in fact, are a reflection of slower skin regeneration that occurs naturally with aging.

In recent years, major advances have been made in understanding how skin develops in space and time, and in recent breakthroughs scientists learnt how to re-program adult skin cells into embryonic stem cells.

“When you think about therapies for skin disease or to address the effects of skin aging, basically you’re trying to find ways to modulate the genetic network within cells and make sure they are doing their job,” Indra said. “We now believe that CTIP2 might be the regulator that can do that. The next step will be to find ways to affect its expression.”

The findings were recently published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. (ANI)

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Some coral colonies can “live” for more than 4000 years

March 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, March 24 (ANI): A new study has discovered that some coral colonies can “live” for more than 4000 years, as old as the pyramids, smashing the previous lifespan estimates of 70 years, and showing that the animals grow far more slowly than was thought.

It is this extremely slow growth that is the secret of the corals’ long life, Brendan Roark, at Texas A and M University, told New Scientist.

Whilst other studies had estimated their age at a few hundred years at most, Roark argues that what had been considered “annual” growth rings actually take much longer to form.

The polyps that form coral are able to create massive reefs of the mineral calcium carbonate (CaCO3) over long time periods by adding successive thin layers to the base of the “cups” in which they live.

Using high-resolution radiocarbon dating, his team first studied Hawaiian corals for traces of “bomb-carbon” – a radioactive carbon isotope produced during nuclear tests in the 1950s.

They found it only in wafer-thin (10-micrometre) layers on the outermost part of corals’ skeleton. This suggests that even these tiny accretions took decades to build up.

Further carbon-dating measurements from layers deep inside the corals then revealed the oldest Gerardia samples to be 2742 years old, while the Leiopathes had been growing for a whopping 4265 years.

This doesn’t mean that the individual animals that secrete the coral themselves live for so long, just that the hollow “skeletons” they grow.

“On a human timescale, there is no sustainable harvest of these animals,” said Roark. “We know next to nothing about how they spawn, settle and regenerate, but I have seen very few younger and smaller colonies, so even slow regeneration might not be a very likely option,” he added.

Roark also hopes that preserving the coral could be useful for humans.

“Given their slow growth, we may be able to use them as high-resolution records of past climate change,” he said. (ANI)

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Stem cell breakthrough may offer possible cures for diabetes, Parkinson’s disease

March 3, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

London, March 2 (ANI): Scientists have reached a step closer to developing potential treatments for devastating diseases including spinal cord injury, macular degeneration, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, thanks to a new method of creating stem cells discovered by researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in Canada.

The researchers say that their study accelerates stem cell technology, and provides a road map for new clinical approaches to regenerative medicine.

“We hope that these stem cells will form the basis for treatment for many diseases and conditions that are currently considered incurable,” Nature magazine quoted Dr. Andras Nagy, Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, Investigator at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, and Canada Research Chair in Stem Cells and Regeneration, as saying.

“This new method of generating stem cells does not require embryos as starting points and could be used to generate cells from many adult tissues such as a patient’s own skin cells,” the researcher added.

Dr. Nagy revealed that his method helps create pluripotent stem cells-which can develop into most other cell types-without disrupting healthy genes. The researcher added that the method involves a novel wrapping procedure to deliver specific genes to reprogram cells into stem cells.

Scientists have to date relied upon approaches that requite the use of viruses to deliver the required genes, a method that carries the risk of damaging the DNA.

Given that Dr. Nagy’s method does not require viruses, it overcomes a major hurdle for the future of safe, personalized stem cell therapies in humans.

“This research is a huge step forward on the path to new stem cell-based therapies and indicates that researchers at the Lunenfeld are at the leading edge of regenerative medicine,” said Dr. Jim Woodgett, Director of Research for the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Regenerative medicine refers to enabling the human body to repair, replace, restore and regenerate its own damaged or diseased cells, tissues and organs. (ANI)

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Ministry of Panchayati Raj, KVIC sign MoC to work towards rural business hubs

February 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Feb 26 (ANI): Panchayat Raj Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar today said that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and KVIC have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to work jointly towards the Rural Business Hubs (RBH) in rural areas by converging Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) and other schemes of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

Informing the Rajya Sabha in a written reply, Aiyar said, “It is expected that such joint working will help generate employment as well as higher and sustained income for rural producers through better marketing and convergence of schemes of KVIC with Panchayats. Joint working arrangement will be operational for a period of three years from the date of signing of the MoC.”

Under the MoC, Panchayats can propose viable projects under the PMEGP scheme of KVIC, which will be placed before the district level task force in which there will be three members representing Panchayats.

“Though this arrangement is operational in all PMEGP districts, special attention will be given in RBH focus districts. Phulbani and Koraput and Ranchi and Deoghar are the RBH focus districts in Orissa and Jharkhand respectively,” he added.

The Minister said KVIC has supported 118 clusters under their Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) scheme.

“Under the MoC, it is proposed to extend marketing linkages to these clusters. Beekeeping cluster, Chamoli (Uttrakhand), Bamboo cluster, Kalpetta (Kerala) and Bamboo cluster, Mizoram have been identified as pilot clusters for such intervention,” he said. (ANI)

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New ultrasound device may revolutionise osteoporosis diagnosis

February 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, February 20 (ANI): Scientists in America have come up with a new form of ultrasound that may lead to early prediction of bone loss, a hallmark of osteoporosis.

Dr. Yi-Xian Qin, Director of the Orthopaedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory at Stony Brook University, has revealed that the new technology, called Scanning Confocal Acoustic Navigation (SCAN), works by assessing multiple parameters of hard tissue like bone.

The researcher, who worked on this project in collaboration with experts from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) in Houston, has also revealed that the technology will first be used to assist astronauts during long-duration space flights.

He says that this has been planned because, just like the elderly on Earth, astronauts in space lose bone structure and quality.

According to him, SCAN is more advanced than existing ultrasound technology because it assesses bone parameters beyond mineral density, namely bone qualities such as strength, structure and stiffness.

He and his colleagues hope to develop a small, mobile SCAN device that would be easy for patients to use.

“SCAN uses non-invasive and non-destructive ultrasound to image bone, and the technology enables us to identify weak regions, as well as make a diagnosis and to assist in healing fractures. Because with SCAN we can assess bone qualities, such as stiffness, we can predict the risk of fracture, as quality of bone rather than density is more of a predictor of fracture risk,” he says.

Dr. Qin highlights the fact that stress-related fractures are a major concern for astronauts during long missions to the moon or in space.

He reckons that the fracture rate could be high on the moon due to workload force, heavy spacesuits and gravity that is one-sixth that of earth’s gravity.

He says that testing the technology under such circumstances in space may prove very beneficial to those with osteoporosis or other bone disorders because of their added risk of fracture.

His team are presently carrying out clinical evaluations of the diagnostic component of SCAN.

The researchers are also developing the therapeutic portion of the technology, with an eye on creating a device that effectively accelerates fracture healing by stimulating bone regeneration.

“We are trying to use ultrasound technology as a way to get an image of the fracture site. An integrated probe will directly shoot ultrasound into the region of the fracture. We hope this will result in effective acceleration of fracture healing,” says Dr. Qin.

He believes that SCAN is potentially an ideal tool for health care providers on earth who care for an increasing elderly population.

The researcher has even revealed that the device in development would have much more capabilities and be smaller, easier, and cheaper to use than current X-ray based bone density measurement machines. (ANI)

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Now, a biomaterial to rebuild broken bones

February 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Feb 19 (ANI): In a major breakthrough towards rebuilding broken bones, Aussie scientists have created a synthetic biomaterial that encourages the body to create bone on its own.

The biomaterial created by researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Stryker Australia could probe top be an answer to successful bone grafts and treating bone disease.

Dr Cameron Lutton of QUT said that the biomaterial activates the initial stages of bone healing by encouraging the body’s natural clotting process, thus promoting bone growth.

“The biomaterial interacts with blood and mimics early bone healing events,” ABC Online quoted Lutton as saying.

When a bone is broken, a fast inflammatory response comes into action where blood clots and specialised cells are quickly attracted to the fracture site, encouraging a cascade of proteins, hormones and other cells to create new bone.

However, the natural process fails to occur if the gap is too large, due to a large break or removal of a tumour.

“If the chunk of bone missing is too big it can’t heal, this is the circumstance that people need assistance,” said Lutton.

Although researchers use bone grafts or synthetic materials to assist in the healing process, but even they have their limitations.

But, the new biomaterial created by QUT researchers scores over all these methods because of its surface structure, which is coated by a special arrangement of polymers that attract the right proteins to the wounded bone, said Dr Ben Goss project researcher.

“There are polymers that attract proteins and those that repel them. By getting the right balance we can attract and repel the right proteins to create bones,” said Goss.

In laboratory conditions, the biomaterial induces the proteins and hormones needed for the initial inflammatory response.

“We know that it does the right thing to the blood to begin bone regeneration,” said Goss.

Currently animal trials of the biomaterial are undergoing, which if successful, may lead to human trials to treat patients with significant bone defects.(ANI)

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Novel discovery offers hope for transplant recipients and AIDS patients

January 13, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

London, Jan 13 (ANI): In a new study, scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind the prevention of the regeneration of CD4+ T lymphocytes, which are white cells that are required for the proper functioning of the immune system.

The finding by Dr. Martin Guimond, from the Universite de Montreal and the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, may greatly influence patients who undergo intensive chemotherapy, receive bone marrow transplants or become infected with HIV.

Normally, chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants are considered to be effective methods to treat patients suffering from leukaemia or other blood cancers.

However, owing to the massive destruction of T lymphocytes, such treatments cause a major weakening of the immune system.

While immunity can then take many years to regenerate, it could leave patients highly vulnerable to infections.

Guimond’s study identified a negative regulation loop that restricts the ability of T lymphocytes to divide.

“By acting on this regulation loop, we can create a homeostatic production of CD4+ T lymphocytes that will allow the immune system to regenerate,” Nature quoted Guimond, as saying.

The study was published in the prestigious journal Nature Immunology. (ANI)

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