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Do you want your clone? From dolly to human

List of institutes providing stem cell research in IndiaList of institutes providing stem cell research in India

Stem cells can make you look thin and beautiful

Dr. A. DeviIntervIew

ISSUE 04VolUmE 01 FEbrUary - aprIl 2014

A GBIOFIN INITIATIVERINGS

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Biotech Rings is an initiative taken up by GBIOFIN to spread the light, which upholds the status of India’s First National Student-oriented Biotech Magazine. Biotech Rings is a journey to awaken and enlighten people. E issue is another step toward a better tomorrow. The team behind Biotech Rings, works hard to bring forth new ideas, ventures and opportunities. We try to help our readers have a better insight of the biotech industry’s demands and make them equip with skills and knowledge needed by an able bioentrepreneur.

With an aim to build a medium for the Biotech community to interact and share knowledge, GBIOFIN launched the 1st Edition of Biotech Rings for May-July 2012. The first edition, focused on Biotechnology as a whole as well as recent innovative advancements in the biotechnology field.

Inspired by the response we got, our team launched a fresh new edition of Biotech Rings, i.e. the 2nd edition of Biotech Rings for February-April 2013, with the novelty of content and new hopes. In this edition, we focus on the articles that give you an insight of the biotech industry and the skills of an entrepreneur.

The previous edition i.e. 3rd Edition of Biotech Rings included the successful advancements of Nanbiotechnology in various fields , its applications to cure cancer, amazing facs of its Industrialization, just being a complete delight for knowledge enthusiast.

With a legacy to explore each field of biotech in our every edition , this time also we are exploring the field of Stem Cells Research and its Importance in medical field .

With this step that we take, we hope to widen our horizon and set forth new visions to be accomplished.

This newspaper of Publisher Printer and Owner, Vaibhav Kirtikumar Shah Printed at: Siddhinivayak Arts , Shop 3 Raj Crystal Co-op HSG Soc, Royal Complex, Eksar Road, Borivli West, Mumbai - 400091.

Published from: D/8, Arihant Apts , Saibaba Nagar, Borivali west , Mumbai - 400 092. (Maharashtra). Editor Vaibhav Kirtikumar Shah

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Nano Biotechnology and Cancer BRAI bill -

current trends

Bharat biotech launched new encephalitis vaccine

Biocon’s anti- psoriasis drug

Madhuri SharonIntervIew

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Biocon tie-up with Trinity

Google Map could pave way for new medical treatments

BiotecnologyINCUBATORS

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BIOTECH

An initiative to spread the light.

2st Edition 3nd Edition 4rd Edition

Advertise your brand with us | Call +91-9540275664 | [email protected]

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”-Sir Winston Churchill

Change is absolutely inevitable and constant. The changing face of biology is attributed to innovative minds and collective con-

tributions of many. Our effort at GBIOFIN is to keep up with these changing times, yet retain conventional methodologies. That being said, we put forth our 4th edition of Biotech rings that intensely focuses on the knowledge of stem cells and critical research ad-vancements in the same. Stem cell therapy has taken the world of science by storm and has sprung up to be one of the most fasci-nating areas of modern biology. The articles featured in this issue of Biotech rings span an array of topics ranging from how stem cells came into being, ethical issues regarding stem cell research, insightful interviews to time-killing crosswords; thus, making it a perfect read for science addicts.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did putting it together.

Happy Reading!

Editorial Team

MANAGERIALAsif RazzaqNimish GopalShah Vaibhav

EDITORIALNimisha Acharya – Editor in chiefNasreen Ahmad

CONTENT WRITERsAnjali Chawla Ankita Patel Sakshi Shrivastava Shruti Thakur

DEsIGNDharma Boyapalli

COPY EDITORMs.Charlotte A. Caneiro

Copyright © 2014, GBIOFIN biotech service. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without permission from the editors.

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Editor’s Message



organ from the stem cells 20Stem cell cloning 24Stem cells can make you look thin and beautiful 26Ethical issues hindering embryonic stem cell research 29Stem cell therapy-a complete tool box to treat Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease 31Bio-preneur: Inspiring story of Dr. James Thomson 34

Editor’s Message 1Bio-talk:Interview : Dr.A.Devi 4

Guest articles:Dr. Surya Narayana Researcher - Unistem Biosciences Pvt. Ltd 8Dr. Parag Jain 11

Time line of stem cells 14Let’s paint the broad strokes of stem cells 16Liver: The first tailor-made



# Editor’s message

#Table of content

# Introduction

# Interview

# Guest Article

Time line

# First Organ - LIVER

# Do you want your Clone

# Stem Cells can make you look thin and beautiful

# Ethical Issues

# AD & PD

#Bioprenur -James

#NLAWC - Nabil + Paramjit

#BIO-Extact - Balaram

#News In and around India

Cross-words

# Institutes

Google’s new sugar- sensing contact lens 43Scientists move closer to stem cell cure for type 1 diabetes 43Nanoparticles: pills for the future 44

List of institutes providing stem cell research in India 45GBIOFIN journey 48

National Level Article Writing Competition (NLAWC):Stem cell: Human resurrection or mass destruction? 36Stem cells and their role and scope in regenerative medicine 37

Bio-Extract:Stem cell transplantation-A unique breakthrough in recent times 39

Recent news:Scientist says GM crops can’t be overlooked for long 42

CONTENTSISSUE 04VolUmE 01



4 BIOTECH RINGS February - april 2014

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Dr. A. Devi, an eminent scientist in stem cell research, shares her experiences and suggestions for young inspiring researchers

She is currently an Assistant Professor in SRM University and has her own research laboratory, which is funded by agencies like DBT. She is the author to many papers in reputed international journals.

Having a PhD inZoology, what triggered your decision to pursue research in cancer and stem cell biology?I completed my Ph.D. in Zoology, Madras University following which I was able to have an exposure to all the avenues in science amongst which Stem cell biol-ogy struck my cord when I completed post doctoral fellowship from University of Alberta, Canada. I fur-

ther worked for over 2 years in MIOT hospital research centre where I studied the ‘Use of fat pads adopted from patients with knee replacement surgeries to cure orthopedic non-disjunctions, by selectively dif-ferentiating adipose stem cells to osteoblast cells for bone repair’. Currently, my lab focuses on a stem cells

marker- Nucleostemin, Breast milk derived stem cells, cancer biology and inter-correlation between stem cells and phospholipids.

When you first started research, the field of stem cells was still at nascent stage, what were the hardships /challenges that you came across?Lack of diversification in stem cell research and only a handful of people really working with stem cells, the start-up of my research laboratory was not easy. Mastering the culture of stem cells is the key to prolific results in stem cells research. I would say, contamina-tion was the biggest hurdle. Maintenance of a sterile environment with a responsibility of guiding scholars working takes time and practice.

Despite these hardships what has been your constant motivation that has helped you to achieve so many accolades in this field?Well, my family is the constant motivation I have ever had. Professionally, the co-operation of clinicians

Interview: Dr.A.Devi“stem cell research is a part and parcel of all hospitals, in future, many students can opt for a career in stem cell labs serving as a bridge between the patients and the doctors.”

“Use of stem cells for various diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s , diabetes and cancer and extending the work to patients would be the centre of research in the near future.”

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needed for collection of human sample for studies is worth mentioning. I am grateful to all the hospitals especially SRM medical College.

How has research in stem cells improved in last couple of years? Further, where do you see the face of stem cells in the coming years?During the last couple of years, a lot of focus on stem cell research has opened up new areas of interest in this field. Researchers are looking for new sources from which we can avail continuous supply of stem cells by procedures that are less invasive and painful. Research on identification of stem cell markers and character-ization of the different types of stem cells has been the important part of stem cell research during the last decade. However, use of stem cells for therapeutic approaches against various diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and cancer would be the centre of research in the near future. A time would certainly come, when we can think of stem cell treatments than other treatments.

Could you please elaborate on the current work being done in the field of stem cells worldwide as well as in India?Research institutions and many private companies are involved in stem cell research worldwide including India. BiorestorativeTherapies’, a life sciences com-pany, has newly identified human adult brown fat cells and developed a cell-based treatment for diabetes. Their results have been published in the journal Stem Cells. The Stem Cell Center (Danstem), University of Copenhagen, has recently shown the impact of phys-ical environment on embryonic and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) on its specialization to different cell types. This understanding is an important step toward stem cell-based cell therapies for conditions like diabetes and liver diseases. Work on cancer stem cells has also gained momentum in the recent years as it is well known that these cells play an important role in metas-tasis. Recently, T cells with stem cell like properties have been detected to play a role in resistance of HIV patients to antiviral treatment. In addition to these,

innumerable studies are being conducted worldwide to identify new gene targets for patients with differ-ent disease conditions like Alzheimer’s and stem cell replacement therapies for age related blindness. Work on the design of biomaterials for bone formation has been studied in detail for bone defects and bone met-abolic disorders.

In India, stem cell banking has established itself as a booming industry, and a lot of private companies are extending their service throughout India. The Council of Medical Research has given guidelines for clinical tri-als involving stem cells. Research laboratories of both private and governmental institutions are also actively involved in stem cell research.

We have heard a lot about Application of Stem cells in Medical field, e.g.stem cells was used for the treatment of legs of a 26/11 victim in a Mumbai based hospital who was completely paralyzed in the attack , so is there such other application that has hap-pened in Medical field?Talking about stem cell therapy treatments, they have been used in treating heart diseases using patient’s own stem cells; fetal brain stem cells for Parkinson’s disease have all been carried out with mixed results. Stem cells have also been used to promote regener-ation in various organs such as the brain and bone. Stem cell therapy has also been tried for Type I dia-betes using hESCs, MSC (mesenchymal stem cells) in which the cells are stimulated to grow into β cells outside the body and are returned back to the patient. Recently, human embryonic stem cells have been used to target and destroy cancer cells especially leukemia and lymphomas. Beside cancer, human embryonic stem cells have also been used as tool for the treat-ment of various diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and heart failure. Repair of the cornea using stem cell therapy has been highly successful. Research in NIH has tried treating eye dis-eases by replacing the RPE (retinal pigmented epi-thelium) cells and has developed a method to convert human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to differentiate into RPE cells. Bone disorders have been treated using


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osteoblasts derived from mesenchymal stem cells. However, though some of these have been successful, there is still a dilemma among researchers whether to continue research on stem cells or to use it directly on patients. Of course, more insights would increase our knowledge on stem cells and surely help in better stem cell therapy treatments. Many hospitals in India also have success stories in stem cell therapy treatments for diseases such as thalassemia, but unless the lay-man is able to gain the benefits of the treatment it can-not be accepted as a successful mode of treatment.

Besides SRM, what are the premier orga-nizations/institutions/companies in India & Abroad that are working in Stem Cells? Please shed light.In India, almost every renowned private hospital boasts of a stem cell research laboratory, which in future will play a pivot role in stem cell therapy treatment for the patients. Private organizations like Life Cell are involved in stem cell banking in India, Manipal Institute of Stem cells and Regenerative Medicine, The Centre

for Stem Cell Research in CMC, Vellore supported by DBT, Government of India, Vellore and The Institute for Stem Cell Biology (inStem), Bangalore, Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) is an institute affil-iated with the Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Madras Medical Mission Hospital and Frontier Life Line Hospitals, The Nitte University Centre for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine (NUCSReM) has set up a Stem Cell Research Centre in KS Hedge Medical Academy, Mangalore.

Internationally, a lot of government and private organi-zations are involved in stem cell research. A few import-ant ones are as follows—The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ICCSR), The International Stem Cell Forum (ISCF) The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), Medical Research Council (MRC). The UK Medical Research Council sponsors the UK Stem Cell, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), EuroStemCell Eleven academic institutes and enterprises, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences Kyoto University, Centre for Stem Cell Biology as a part of the University of Sheffield.

Stem cell laboratory at SRM University.


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What are your words of advice for the young minds aspiring to pick a career in stem cell biology?Understanding the basics of Stem Cell Biology, its importance in the scientific field and an interest in developmental biology would surely be an asset to the students who want to pursue their career in stem cell biology. For those students, who want to work and contribute in research areas like cancer, diabe-tes, heart diseases, stem cell biology would prove to be a right choice. Stem Cell Banking and counseling on stem cells would be the other option for students who want to pursue their interest in areas other than research. All students should make it a point to read research articles regularly and try to analyze and dis-cuss the papers with their friends and teachers and interact in a Journal Club to kindle their interest not only in Stem Cell Biology but also other research areas of their interest. This interaction will only help them to gain knowledge and improve their analytical skills to kindle their young minds.

From a student’s point of view, what are the career prospects in stem cells?Research would be the first option. For those not inter-ested in research, now-a-days counseling and stem cell banking centers also serve as a career point and they can actively develop a career in counseling on stem cells and banking to the common people. Since, stem cell research is a part and parcel of all hospitals; students may opt for a career in stem cell laborato-ries serving as a bridge between the patients and the doctors. Students can involve in culturing of stem cells for therapy treatments in hospitals after taking proper training in animal cell culture techniques.

interview


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Guest article

Adult Stem cells research over the decade have increased with significant research teams and labs being estab-lished across India emphasizing on the adult stem cells in the development of novel cellular therapies. Adult stem cell’s ability to differentiate into cell lineages and interests by the researchers has undoubtedly accelerated the scientific research in defining the principles of these stem cells in tissue regeneration, repair and changing the life style of patients with various clinical conditions. This Article focuses on Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSc) or multipotent stromal cells role, current advancement in MSc’s research and stem cell labs across India.

The Bandwagon of Adult Stem cell Research

“The tri lineage differentiation of the mesenchymal stem cells have significantly encouraged scientists and clinicians to apply these specifically differentiated stem cells for the treatment of bone and cartilage

damage, cardiovascular , gastrointestinal , autoimmune , neuro-degenerative diseases and cancer”.


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Mesenchymal stem cells or Mesenchymal stromal cells are currently considered having a huge potential in tis-sue regeneration, repair and their role in spinal cord injuries, motor neuron disorders and many other clin-ical condition. With its origin from many places in the body including bone marrow, umbilical cord tissue, adipose tissue, there is a marked difference in the biol-ogy of the Mesenchymal stem cells based on the tissue of origin. The Home environment of the Mesenchymal stem cells and tissue of origin are the main source of variation in the biological properties of mesenchymal stem cells in tissue regeneration and repair. With sig-nificant research been done on studying the Immuno modulatory effects of the mesenchymal stem cells and tissue repair, It is still unclear that how the hom-ing mechanisms of Mesenchymal stem cells happen from the site of injection to site of Injury considering the short shelf life of these cells inside the body and critical signaling pathways involved in the tissue repair

and tissue regeneration.

Mesenchymal stem cells have the unique property among the adult stem cells to differentiate into adi-pocytes, chondrocytes, oestocytes. The Tri lineage differentiation of the mesenchymal stem cells have significantly encouraged scientists and clinicians to apply these specifically differentiated stem cells for the treatment of bone and cartilage damage, cardio-vascular , gastrointestinal , autoimmune , neurodegen-erative diseases and cancer. Mesenchymal stem cells because of their potent self –renewal capacity, can be passaged many times without significant alterations of their major properties. According to International Society for Cellular Therapy guidelines for minimal criteria to define mesenchymal stem cells, There are three major criteria to define Human MSc’s

1) Mesenchymal stem cells should be plastic- adherent in the standard cultured conditions,

R&D Systems Tools for Cell Biology Research™

STEM CELL FOCUS: MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS

Mesenchymal Stem Cell & Differentiation MarkersFEATURED DATA: Aggrecan · CD29/Integrin b1 · CD44 · CD45 · CD90/Thy1 · CD105/Endoglin · CD166/ALCAM · Collagen II · FABP4 Osteocalcin · PDGF Ra · SNF1LK2

The term ‘mesenchymal stem cells’ (MSCs) is most commonly used to describe multipotent self-renewing cells that can be differentiated in vitro to generate adipocytes, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts. However, because these biological properties and hierarchical relationships remain to be clearly demonstrated in vivo, the term ‘multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells’ is often used to distinguish cultured cells from their in vivo precursors. Originally discovered in mouse bone marrow, multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells cultured from a variety of species and tissue types, have been shown to differentiate into progeny of additional lineages including, cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, hepatocytes, and neural cells. Again, the physiological relevance of these findings remains to be determined. Given their rarity, incompletely defined immunophenotype, and localization in multiple organs, studying MSCs in situ is a challenging task. To facilitate MSC research, we present tools for the isolation, expansion, differentiation, and verification of MSC/multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells.

SELF-RENEWAL

Pre-AdipocyteC/EBP-α

AdipocyteAdiponectin ALBP FABP4Fatty Acid Transporter Glut4

Leptin Lipoprotein Lipase PPARγ2

Pre-ChondrocyteSOX9

ChondrocyteAggrecan CD44 CD151Collagens II & IV DSPG3

Sulfated Proteoglycan

OsteoprogenitorAlkaline Phosphatase Collagens I & II

Decorin MCAM MEPE OsterixRUNX2/CBFA1 Thrombopoietin

OsteoblastBAP Collagen I FibronectinIGFBP-3 Osteocalcin SPARC

MSC/Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal CellsCELL SURFACE: BMP Receptors CD29 CD31– CD34– CD44

CD45– CD51 CD73 CD90/Thy-1 CD105 CD166 Integrin α1PDGF Rα Nestin Sca-1+, Lin– (mouse) SCF R/c-Kit STRO-1 VCAM-1

INTRACELLULAR: Nucleostemin

Myogenic PrecursorsIntegrin α7 M-Cadherin Mrf-4

Myf-5 MyoD MyogeninPax3 Pax7

Cardiac MuscleAtrial Natriuretic Factor BMP-4 Cripto

Desmin FABP3 GATA-4 MEF2CMyosin Heavy Chain NKX2.5

α-Sarcomeric Actin TBX5 Troponin T

Skeletal Muscleα-Actinin µ-Calpain CD146Dystrophin β-Enolase FABP3

Integrin α7β1 MR4 MyoDMyogenin Myosin Light Chain

Troponin I

Smooth MuscleVE-Cadherin Calponinα-Smooth Muscle Actin

Multipotent Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Differentiation Markers. The illustration depicts a theoretical hierarchy of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation. The differentiation of MSCs toward myogenic lineages (dashed line) remains to be demonstrated in vivo.

For more information, please visit: www.RnDSystems.com/MSC


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2) Mesenchymal stem cells must express CD 105, CD73 and CD 90 and lack expression of CD 45, CD 34, CD79a, HLA-DR and

3) Must differentiate into three lineages.

Mesenchymal stem cell’s microenvironment in immune suppression is one of the major interests among the immunologists, stem cell biologists and clinicians. However the detailed studies and signaling pathways of how the microenvironment affects immunosuppression of MSc’s are yet to be elucidated. Scientists across the globe are in the process of resolving these questions and will require comprehensive experimental approaches includ-ing the use of in vivo assays to define the tissue regenerative properties, repair, tracking their distributions and dynamics in diverse tissues and use of MSc’s specific animal models.

India has always been the major Stem cell research contributor in the recent fast with many of the research papers, review articles being published frequently and with stem cell companies already into clinical trials trying to market the stem cells as a drug for a common public to afford. Indian Government along with ICMR and CSIR has established various stem cell research labs and institutions across India to meet the industry needs and to benefit students and research scholars. Institutes like Institute for Stem cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Bangalore, Centre for Stem cell Research, Vellore, and Companies like Unistem Biosciences, Stempeutics focus-ing on Adult Stem cells and Hematopoietic stem cells. However scientists, Stem cell companies, and Laboratories across India need a more refined insight into the biological attributes of MSc’s in order for a more rational exploitation of their therapeutic use.

“Due to my academics, I had the chance to be systematically trained as a researcher into which I am ready to involve my whole life. I joined Unistem Biosciences Pvt. Ltd which is a holistic stem cell Company,

which offers stem cell research, experimental therapy and umbilical cord banking. I am currently working with prime focus on umbilical cord tissue derived Mesenchymal stem cells for experimental

therapies for treating various disorders and on umbilical cord tissue derived Hematopoietic stem cells for cryobanking and for treating various blood related disorders. With over 7 years of professional

tangled with research experience, I want to be very much involved in exploring the transcription factors, molecular mechanisms and immune- modulation properties involved in the functions of adult stem

cells for improving the quality of lives of various patients with clinical conditions like Motor Neuron Disorders, Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal cord injuries and etc. As an astute thinker of scientific research and

not a chauvinistic believer of destiny I believe the panacea of various diseases at earlier stage is not a moot and indelible issue in near future.”


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Life is regenerative, by definition. But by and large, humans lack the regenerative capacity of creatures such as newts and hydra. Regenerative medicine is a multidisciplinary field that aims at ‘repair, replace-ment or regeneration’ of cells, tissue or organs to restore impaired function. This can be accomplished by stimulating natural regenerative mechanisms or by cell therapy and tissue engineering techniques of several cell types, including stem cells. Regeneration includes cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineer-ing and other methods, and it has enormous poten-tial in health industry. Regeneration includes replacing damaged tissue and/or stimulating body’s own repair mechanisms to heal previously irreparable tissues or organs. Regenerative medicine also refers to a group of biomedical approaches to clinical therapies that may involve the use of stem cells. Examples include the injection of stem cells or progenitor cells (cell ther-apies); the induction of regeneration by biologically active molecules administered alone or as a secretion by infused cells (immunomodulation therapy); and transplantation of in vitro grown organs and tissues (Tissue engineering).

Proteins and small molecules have important appli-cations throughout regenerative medicine. They are probes to identify novel signaling pathways, tools for dissecting mechanisms, and in some cases potential therapies. Multipotent cells hold promise as potential building blocks for regenerating lost tissues, but suc-cessful tissue regeneration will depend on comprehen-sive control of multipotent cells– differentiation into a

target cell type, delivery to a desired tissue, and inte-gration into a durable functional structure. At each step of this process, proteins and small molecules provide essential signals and, in some cases, may themselves act as effective therapies. Identifying these signals is thus a fundamental goal of regenerative medicine. Pluripotent cells have the ability to regenerate all of an organism’s mature tissue types. A variety of pluripo-tent cells have been used as sources for differentiated cells. These include embryonic stem cells, hemato-poietic stem cells, and mesenchymal stem cells. ESCs have a great potential due to their characteristics but their use is limited by ethical considerations. The use of amniotic fluid cells, umbilical cord cells, fat and skin tissue and monocytes might be an adequate alterna-tive. Current laboratory and animal trials are studying the possibility of introducing stem cell therapy to clin-ical practice for regeneration in muscular dystrophy, intervertebral disc degeneration, cerebral infarcts and transplantation medicine.

Currently, many chronic diseases can only be cured by organ transplantation. Since there is a shortage of donor organs, the medical field is in desperate need of a renewable source of cells and tissues for trans-plantation therapy. Regenerative medicine could pro-vide an alternative to organ transplantation by using stem cells. Techniques can be developed to produce tissues and organs in the laboratory and then, safely implant them in the patient’s body. This can poten-tially solve the problem of organ transplant rejection also, if the organ’s cells are derived from the patient’s

Stem cells and regenerative medicine“Stem cell research offers unprecedented opportunities for

developing new medical therapies for debilitating diseases and a new way to explore fundamental questions of biology”


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own tissue or cells. Tissue resident stem cells such as hematopoietic stem cells of the bone marrow or spe-cialized cells created from stem cells such as heart cells could be transplanted into patients to treat diseases and disorders. Stem cells can also be used in the lab-oratory to generate tissue patches that can restore organ function when transplanted back into the body. Bone marrow transplantation is widely recognized as the original stem cell therapy. A bone marrow trans-plant involves taking healthy stem cells from the bone marrow of one person and transferring them to the bone marrow of another (or, in some cases, a patient’s own healthy bone marrow). Transplants are often used to treat conditions such as leukaemia, which damage bone marrow so that it is no longer able to produce normal blood cells.

Stem cell research offers unprecedented opportunities for developing new medical therapies for debilitating diseases and a new way to explore fundamental ques-tions of biology. Research on human embryonic stem cells, however, is controversial, given the diverse views held in our society about the moral and legal status of the early embryo. The controversy has encouraged provocative and conflicting claims both inside and outside the scientific community about the biology and biomedical potential of both adult and embryonic stem cells. iPSCs can be used in place of embryonic stem cells to obtain specialized cell types for thera-pies. iPSCs are pluripotent stem cells that have been generated from somatic cells such as a skin cell, and maintain the stem cell properties of embryonic stem cells. The ability to create pluripotent stem cells from

an individual’s own skin cells holds great promise for personalized medicine.

Although stem cells hold great potential for the treat-ment of many injuries and degenerative diseases, several obstacles must be overcome before their ther-apeutic application can be realized. These include the development of advanced techniques to understand and control functions of micro-environmental signals and novel methods to track and guide transplanted stem cells. The application of nanotechnology in stem cell biology would be able to address those challenges. There are only two regenerative medicine treatments with European Union Marketing Authorisation (cen-tral approval which is binding in all Member States): glybera, a gene therapy to treat lipoprotein lipase deficiency (a rare disease in which patients have a defect in the gene encoding an enzyme responsible for breaking down fats); and ChondroCelect, an autol-ogous cell therapy where a patient’s cartilage cells are biopsied, grown and expanded in the laboratory and used to treat cartilage defects in knees. ChondroCelect has been used in the UK in private healthcare settings but is not available through the NHS as NICE has not completed its evaluation, meaning no centrally agreed level of reimbursement can be offered. Glybera has only recently been approved for use.

Regenerative treatments are also used to help patients with burn injuries. Replacement skin cells can be grown from a postage stamp-sized sample of a patient’s healthy skin to replace the top layer of skin (epider-mis) for patients with severe burns. Cells from the skin sample are separated and grown by a process called


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tissue culture, which involves feeding the cells with specific nutrients and maintaining strict environmental con-trols so that the cells multiply to form sheets of skin. They can be grown on a layer of irradiated mouse cells. A surgeon then undertakes a procedure which covers (grafts) the lost or damaged skin. This grafted skin replaces the patient’s top layer of skin in order to help burn wounds heal. Human tissue engineered skin and tissue engi-neered cartilage were amongst the first to be used for the treatment of chronic wounds and burns, and joint degeneration and injury, respectively. Other regenerative techniques are being developed to repair bone, cor-nea, bladder and several other common conditions. Also, under current research are treatments such as nerve regeneration for conditions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, pancreatic islet cells for transplantation into the liver for treatment of diabetes, and regeneration of damaged heart tissue.

Some of the medical applications and tissue/organs to which tissue engineering approaches are being devel-oped include severe burns, skin ulcers, cartilage, bone -, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, myocardial patches, heart valves, kidney, bladder, liver and bio-artificial pancreas.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) developed and operates a pancreatic islet transplan-tation service for patients with type one diabetes who have poor glycaemic awareness (problems recognising when their blood sugar levels become dangerously low). Islet cells, which make and release insulin, are extracted from the pancreas of a deceased donor, isolated and then transfused into the liver of a recipient patient to restart the body’s insulin production in an experimental treatment. This procedure was carried out 61 times in the period December 2010 - November 2012. Severe hypoglycaemia was reduced by >95% among patients who have received the treatment and overall insulin requirement was halved, with a significant numbers of patients becoming insulin-independent. There is great need for such a treatment, but the number of transplants is lim-ited by supply.

These studies show encouraging results to enable us to harness and augment under controlled conditions, the body’s own regenerative potential. Ongoing pre-clinical work suggests that it might eventually be possible to treat Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Dr. Parag Jain Dresden University of Technology, Germany

Master of Science (MS), Stem Cells / Regenerative Biology and Medicine

University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom Master of Research (MRes), Biomedical Sciences

1stbone marrow transplantation - 1956

1961

Formed in 1974

Timeline of stem cells

Performed in USA

Proved the existenceof stem cells in bone marrow.

National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research.

Establishment of Ethics Advisory Board -

Stem cells were discovered in human cord blood -

First embryonic stem cells are derived from a mouse blastocyst.

First embryonic stem cell line was derived from a non human primate.

Ernest McCulloch James Till

1975

1978

1981 1995

First mammal cloned from an adult(somatic) cell-Dolly the sheep was born. -

James Thomsan, University of Wisconsin Madison, publishes the first paper in Science describing hESCs. Osiris Therapeutics (US) founded in 1992 began their first trial using mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) in bone marrow transplant and now has two MSC products in clinical trials for several indications including GvHD,

Crohn’s disease, diabetes and cardiac disease.

1996

Shinya Yamanaka and colleagues at Kyoto University create the first iPS cells from mouse somatic cells.

First stem cells derived from an SCNT embryo in non-human primates.

2006

2007

Thomson, Yamanaka and others publish the creation of iPS cells from humans. 2007

Researchers at Harvard University publish first disease specific iPS lines for diseases including parkinson’s disease, down syndrome, juvenile diabetes and huntington’s disease.

2008

Mesoblast(Aus) in 2004 announce successful results from a clinical trial using MSC precursor cells to treat long bone fracture and now have a pipeline of productsin clinical trials using MSCs to treat several indications

including bone repair and cardiac disease.

2008

1998at Roslin Institute, Scotland.

James Thomsan

Shinya Yamanaka

Bone repair Cardiac disease


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introduction to Stem cells

Like most of the worldly matter, the stem cell origin too has a story behind it that dates back to the ‘Greek mythology’ when Hercules, son of Zeus,

had to slay Lernaea Hydra, the ancient sea creature whose nine heads grew back if chopped off. This was one of the Labors of Hercules, a series of seemingly impossible tasks that Hercules had to perform under the blackout induced by the infuriated sun goddess. He finally cauterised the neck of the hydra to accom-plish the task.

From the story, three things are clear. Firstly, the greek clearly did not notice a phenomenon of regeneration occurring in humans. Secondly, the idea of stem cells is not new. Finally, where the word herculean comes from!!

Though humans are not blessed with the gift of regenerating the entire head, yet there are many tissues that a human regenerates which include the

following-bone, blood and skin. Have you ever thought why liver tissue regenerates itself after a minor degen-eration, but heart and kidneys on the other hand do not? The answer lies in the principles of stem cells, which were unveiled for the first time by James Till and Ernest McCulloh in 1960. They showed that a sin-gle cell from bone marrow could generate copies of itself and many types of blood cells too. Thirty two years down the line, Irving Weismsman proved the presence of stem cells in humans that could regener-ate human’s entire blood and immune system. The first clinical application of stem cells came forth when bone marrow was transplanted to a patient suffering from leukemia.

Having discussed the broad picture, let’s understand the basic science of these magical cells.

Back to high school

Stem cells: Let’s paint the broad strokes of stem cells

Life Time Achievement Award : Left: James Till and Right: Ernest McCulloh


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Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types based on their type and potency. The rigorous definition of a stem cell requires that it possesses two properties: Self renewal and unlimited potency.

So, what is potency?Potency is the power of the cells to give rise to ‘x’ num-ber of cells or its differential potential.

Potency degree Value of ‘x’ ExampleNullipotency 0 RBCs (No DNA)Unipotency 1 Mast cellsBipotential 2 MacrophagesTripotential 3 OligodendrocytesOligopotency Upto 5 ‘Few’ Lymphoid/myeloid

cellsMultipotency More than 5 ‘Many’ Hematopoietic

cellsPleuripotency All excluding

PlacentaInner cell mass

Totipotency All including Placenta

Blastocyst

We can broadly classify Stem cells into 2 types

Embryonic stem Cells:Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos at a developmental stage before the time of implantation. This developmental stage is the blastocyst stage or 32 cell stage, from which pleuripotent cells can be iso-lated. Embryonic stem cells can differentiate into the 3 embryonic germ layers i.e. ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. Pleuripotency distinguishes embryonic stem cells from multipotent cells found in adults, which can only form a limited number of different cell types.

Key note: Blastocyst = Inner cell mass + Trophoblast = Totipotent (Since, trophoblast can give rise to extra embryonic tissue as well i.e. placenta)

Adult stem Cells:Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells found throughout the body that divide to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissue.Adult stem cells can be found in children as well!

Types of Adult stem cellsStem cells with broad differentiation potential appear to exist in adult bone marrow and, perhaps, in other tissues as well. Stem cells located outside of the bone marrow are generally referred to as tissue stem cells. Such stem cells are located in sites called niches, where a specialized cellular environment provide stem cells with the support needed for self-renewal.

Ectoderm

Mesoderm

Endoderm


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Bone marrow stem cells

Cell-type resulting from differentiation

Bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells

Myeloid (monocytes and macro-phages, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, erythrocytes, platelets and some dendritic cell Lymphoid lineages (T-cells, B-cells, NK cells, some dendritic cells).

Bone marrow stromal stem cells (mesenchy-mal stem cells)

Osteoblasts, Chondrocytes, Myocytes, Adipocytes, Neuronal cells and beta pancreatic islet cells

Others includes: Adipose type stem cells, Pancreatic stem cells, Olfactory stem cells, Retinal stem cells, Liver stem cells(oval cells) and so forth.

Potential sources to isolate stem cells:Embryonic Stem Cells - Aborted embryos, In Vitro fertilization clinics.

Adult Stem Cells - Bone marrow, peripheral blood, umbilical cord, menstrual blood, specific tissues/organs.

Now that you have a knack of it, let’s under-stand how we can use stem cells in health care:

1. Molecular Research: Embryonic stem cells have been used to study the specific signals and differen-tiation steps required for the development of many tissues.

2. Genetic therapy: Human embryonic stem cells could be genetically manipulated to introduce the

therapeutic gene. Skin cells from an immunodefi-cient mouse were used to generate cellular therapy that partially restored function in the mouse. This

Location of adult stem cells in the body


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can also be used in treating human patient with immuno deficiency.

3. Drug Testing: Human Embryonic stem cells derived ‘specific tissue’ cells may be extremely valuable in identifying novel drugs before they are used in clinical trials, there by accelerating the drug discovery process and leading to safer and effective treatments.

4. Brain Damage: Recently from research con-ducted in rats subjected to stroke suggested that administration of drugs to increase the stem cell division rate and direct the survival and differen-tiation of newly formed cells could be successful.

5. Cancer: Researcher at Harvard Medical School caused intracranial tumor in rodents. Then they injected human neural stem cells. Within days, the cells had migrated into the cancerous and produced cytosine deaminase, an enzyme that convents a non-toxic pro-drug into a chemother-apeutic agent. As a result, the injected substance was able to reduce tumor mass by 80%.

6. spinal cord injury: Scientist have treated the patient of spinal cord injury by isolating adult stem cells from umbilical cord blood and then injected them into damaged part of the spinal cord.

7. Muscle damage: Adult stem cells are able to repair heart muscle damaged due to oxygen depletion causing myocardial infraction. Researchers found that injecting bone marrow stem cells into mice that were induced with heart attack, resulted in an improvement of 33% in the functioning of heart. The damaged tissue had regrown by 68%.

An ‘instant coffee’ approach in not applicable to the research especially the stem cells-based research. The derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines from oocytes and embryos is fraught with disputes about the onset of human personhood. We immediately encounter the question of what beings we should classify as ‘persons’ for the purposes of not killing a person. Thus, these ethical and policy issues need to be discussed along with scien-tific challenges to ensure that stem cell research is indeed carried out though in an ethically appropriate manner.


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The first tailor-made organ

We medicate ourselves with amphetamines (pain kill-ers) everyday even after the damage it causes to the liver. Do you know why? Because in a healthy adult, partially undifferentiated hepatocytes take care of the liver regeneration without fail. Three fourth of the liver can be regenerated in just a month!

The wonders of liver regeneration is acknowledged since the time of Prometheus, the cultural hero in Greek mythology, who was punished by Zeus as he returned humans, the gift of fire. Prometheus was chained to a boulder where a large bird fed on his liver during the daytime, but his liver grew back overnight so that the bird could feast again the next day.

Did you know that within a week after partial hepatec-tomy, hepatic mass is back essentially to what it was before surgery?

Some interesting observations seen in liver transplan-tation are as follows:

In the case where baboon livers have been trans-planted into people, they quickly grow to the size of a human liver.

When the liver from a large dog is transplanted into a small dog, it loses mass until it reaches the size

appropriate for a small dog.

An array of transcription factors (NF-kB, STAT3, fos and jun) are rapidly induced and participate in orches-trating expression of a group of hepatic mitogens like hepatic growth factor, epidermal growth factor, TNF-a, IL-6 and so forth to facilitate liver regeneration via continuous divisibility of hepatocytes (FASEB J 1996; 10: 413–27).

Even so, the liver tissue is not invincible. It can be irre-versibly damaged via multiple infections, hepatitis, repeated bouts of alcohol damage causing cirrohosis. Owing to more than 500 functions that liver performs in an adult and increasing occurrence of liver problems,

it is a need of the hour to find out a promising cure.

According to survey done by National Liver Foundation (NLF) more than a million people suffer from liver dis-eases in India and ~40,000 people are in need of a liver transplant every year. But, only a maximum of 5000 peo-ple actually find a donor and the rest of them die owing to the several problems associated with finding a suit-able donor, starting with the agreement of the family to the high possibility of immune rejection and transplant associated infections; thus, artificially grown liver using stem cells is marching out to be the best possible cure.

Liver: The first tailor-made organ from the stem cells


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The first tailor-made organ

Previously, small tissues have been grown using stem cells in laboratory for grafting into the damaged part of the liver. This could help cure minor degenerations in the hepatic region. But recent research led by Takanori Takebe, Hideki Taniguchi and colleagues at Yokohama City University in Japan has developed ‘tiny buds’ of liver using induced pluripotent stem cells. (iPSCs).

iPSCs are pluripotent cells produced from genetically engineered differentiated cells via inducing expressing of genes such as Oct4, Nanog, SOX2, KLF4 and c-myc. They offer the advantage of eliminating the possibility of immune rejection by using recipient’s tissue as the source of the differentiated cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells were first generated by Shinya Yamanaka’s team at Kyoto University, Japan in 2006. Yamanaka chose 24 genes of interest that had been identified as particularly important in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and in the maintenance of pluripotency, and used ret-roviruses to transduce mouse fibroblasts with various selections of those genes.

The breakthrough research carried out by these sci-entists has revolutionized the field of regenerative medicine.

The team of researchers led by Takebe et.al., started with using human skin cells as the source of differenti-ated cells, which were further genetically reverted to an embryonic stem cell state and used along with a cock-tail of human mesenchymal cells and human umbili-cal vein endothelial cells that were further coaxed into liver-precursor cells by exposing them to hepatic-lin-eage differentiating medium and factors that promote angiogenesis like VEGF. Within 48 hours, the cells had amassed into tiny proto-organs visible to the naked eye. These cells not only differentiated into a hepatic tissue but also organized itself in a ‘3-D structure’ giv-ing rise to heterogenous population of cells present in liver.

Once the liver buds were ~4 or 5 mm, the team implanted 12 liver buds into 3 major sites selected based on their ease to access them, the Cranium, mes-entry and sub-capsular region of the each immune-de-ficient mouse. The researchers had labeled the cells with fluorescent proteins, which helped them monitor the buds for formation of blood vessels.

They found that the organ developed a vascular sys-tem almost immediately and performed liver-specific functions within weeks. By day ten, the transplanted liver buds were producing albumin, a key protein pro-duced by the liver. After 60 days, the gene expression of cells in the liver bud had significantly shifted from its precursor cells to that of differentiate hepatic cells. These liver buds were tested for its functioning by var-ious liver functioning tests like inducing the mice with human liver metabolizing compounds; the buds suc-cessfully detoxified the compounds.

Takebe has estimated that with an infusion of hun-dreds of thousands of liver buds, ~30% of a person’s liver function could be restored. He also outlined the current limitations to therapy, which includes creating suitable liver buds in sufficient quantity to develop a viable clinical therapy, and the possibility of conversion of these buds into small tumors if not modeled appro-priately in the laboratory conditions.

Transplantation of tissue engineered liver with syn-thetic scaffolds made from biomaterials in combina-tion with the patient’s own stem cells is yet another approach. The major limitation is the question about the biocompatibility of the biomaterial used but offers the advantage of eliminating the use of immune-sup-pressive drugs.

The world’s first ever synthetic organ transplant of tra-chea, using this approach, was carried out in June 2011 on a patient suffering from tracheal cancer.

In another study, stem cell originated liver tissues were exposed to in vivo conditions by placing them in a bio-reactor for days, in which the conditions prevailing in the body were artificially induced.

Though these approaches were not successful in liver transplantation, they are the only hope of the mil-lions of the patients in a need for a liver transplanta-tion. With increasing alcohol consumption rates, liver has become the most vulnerable organ contributing to a stem cell-based research to protect or artificially develop the only detoxifier in our body. Stem cells are not only important to bolster health care but also serve as a promising career.

In January 2009, Geron(US) received clearance to begain world’s first human clinical trial of hESC based therapy for acute spinal cord injury, later that year the trial was placed

on clinical hold pending further animal data. - 2009

ASCC funds early clinical trial at UNSW to further test the use of eye stem cells on contact lenses to treat

blinding corneal disease. -

Scientists at Stanford University directly reprogram fibroblasts to

neurons without needing to return the cells to pluripotency first.

ReNeuron(UK) granted approval for world’s first human clinical trial of stem cell therapy for stroke

using cells derived from foetal stem cells.

Advanced Cell Technology won FDA approval to test Stem Cell

therapy for degenerative eye disease.

Advanced Cell Technology received FDA approval to proceed with clinical trials with a hESC derived treatement for a rare type of blindness known as

Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy. - 2010

2009

2010

2010

Acute spinal cord injury

Stem cell pioneer Ernest McCulloch died.

Suit against federal stem cell research dismissed.

Pope hailed potential of adult stem cell research.

Blindness eased by historic stem cell treatment.

Court upheld federal funding of embryonic stem cell research

Scientists created stem cells from urine.

Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived from Cloned Human Embryos

Human Liver Created from Stem Cells.

The world’s first test-tube burger is made from cow stem cells.

2010

2011

2012

2013

R.I.P McCulloch


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Stem cell cloning

shoukhrat Mitalipov, a reproductive biology spe-cialist at the Oregon Health and Science University in Beaverton, made patient-specific embryonic stem cells through cloning!

Normally, an embryo is created when sperm fuses with the egg and it starts to divide. But, Mitalipov et al., at Oregon Health & Science University began with using fetal skin cells to produce their first ESC lines, whereas others were derived using donor cells from an 8-month-old patient with a rare metabolic disorder called Leigh syndrome, to prove that ESCs could be made from more mature donor cells as well. The tech-nique does not require prohibitive numbers of eggs. It took 15 from one donor to produce one cell line and 5 from a different donor to make another. The efficacy was indeed impressive. With the help of chemicals, the egg started to divide just like a normal fertilized egg would. Then, within several days, embryos genetically identical to the baby were created, from which stem cells were derived.

It was hailed some 15 years ago that stem cell ther-apy would be a great hope for a biomedical revolu-tion. The use of cloning techniques to create perfectly matched tissues that would someday cure ailments ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s diseaseis remark-able. Since then, the approach has been enveloped in ethical debate. Embryonic stems research is inherently controversial because in order to use the stem cells for science, the embryo that could develop into a fully formed human, is technically destroyed.

Though, many scientists have tried to create human Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer cell lines, none have succeeded, until the Mitalipov team’s whose success in reprogramming human skin cells came through a series of studies in both human and monkey cells. The OHSU group studied various alternative approaches first developed in monkey cells and then applied to human cells. Through moving findings between mon-key cells and human cells, the researchers were able to develop a successful method.

Their success came through experimenting with minor

technical tweaks. The researchers

Prompted egg cells to stay in ‘metaphase’ during the nuclear transfer process. They found that chemically maintaining metaphase throughout the transfer pro-cess prevented the process from stalling and allowed the cells to develop and produce stem cells.

They used inactivated Sendai virus (known to induce fusion of cells) to unite the egg and body cells

They used an electric jolt to activate embryo development.

When their first attempts produced six blastocysts but no stable cell lines, they added caffeine, which protects the egg from premature activation.



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Stem cell cloning

Monkeying aroundMitalipov and his group began their work, in September 2012, using eggs from young donors. In December, cells from four cloned embryos that Mitalipov had engineered began to grow. Masahito Tachibana, a fer-tility specialist from Sendai, Japan, sectioned the 1-mil-limetre-wide clumps of cells and transferred them to new culture plates, where they continued to grow — an evidence of success.

Though his techniques are not new, the secret to suc-cess was testing them in various combinations in more than 1000 monkey eggs before moving on to human cells, and thus they could make the right improve-ments in the protocol.

The researchers carried out a battery of tests to prove that their Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer cells could form various cell types, including heart cells that are able to contract spontaneously. A thorough examina-tion of the stem cells derived through this technique demonstrated their ability to convert just like normal

embryonic stem cells, into several different cell types, including nerve cells, liver cells and heart cells.

Furthermore, because these reprogramed cells can be generated with nuclear genetic material from a patient, there is no concern of transplant rejection.

Another noteworthy aspect of this research is that it does not involve the use of fertilized embryos, a topic that has been the source of a significant ethical debate.

Public fears that the technology might be used to create human clones are another sticking point. The research might spark ‘cloning hysteria’ that opponents of stem cell research could capitalize on, says Bernard Siegel, executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute in Palm Beach, Florida.

However, Mitalipov has tried without success for more than a decade to produce a monkey by cloning and has said that an upcoming publication would explain why reproductive cloning of humans is not possible using their Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer technique.

The technique of cloning human stem cells as used by Mitalipov, Source: author


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Stem cells: Skin and hair

Do you desire to have a scar-free skin and voluminous hair? Knock the door of stem cells!The use of stem cells have been making headlines for years, but now they are getting more attention as they have started to be embraced by the beauty indus-try. Let’s be honest, the search for eternal youth is a big business, with beauty brands looking to the latest scientific innovations to find ways into the minds (and wallets) of consumers.

The cosmetic science behind the use of stem cells shows that they have the ability to self-multiply and essentially flick the switch of eternal youth. As we grow old, the cellular turnover slows down. By apply-ing stem cells to your skin, you can help speed up heal-ing to produce healthy, firm new tissue. But here’s the catch, not all stem cells are created equal.

So let’s have a look on the type and sources of the stem cells that have been used for cosmetic purposes:

Plant derives stem cellsDifferentiated tissues of the plant like roots, fruit, stem and flowers have been used to isolate cells, which are converted into a callus, a mass of undif-ferentiated cells, by exposing the selected part to plant growth regulators like auxin and cytokinin in equal proportion and placing it in dark to avoid photosynthesis.

The callus can be further used in a skin care supple-mental medium in form of creams and serum.

This approach has following reasons behind the use:

The plant stem cells will boost human skin stem cells residing in epidermal layer. Extracts of Uttwiler Spautlauber apple causes an increase in human cell proliferation by 80%, which was proved in a clinical trial.

The plant stem cells can release certain essential oils and secrete vitamins and proteins that can protect

from everyday exposure of skin to UV rays.

They can produce anti-oxidants that can protect against oxidation of skin caused by free radicals that lead to pits and scars.

They can release certain proteins that can promote collagen and elastin formationthat are important for skin tightening.

Though the rationale behind their use looks promising, Danné Montague-King, a worldwide leader in the field of skin rejuvenation who was also the first biochemists to recognize the power of enzymes and the benefit of vitamin C therapy, has to say the following about therapy

“The cells making up the callus do not carry the spe-cific features of the actual plant cells. It is this that is put into skin creams. Plant stem cells are not leaders, they are followers and the downstream differentiated plant cells are the only ones that have the biochemi-cal ability required to produce the substances derived from plants that have active therapeutic abilities. It is a shame that an incredible science researching human stem cells that will one day save the world from a lot of misery including the indignities of age is banded about in this manner.”

However, many other skin care and stem cells experts support the hypothesis and so does the FDA. Many of the products from certain companies like Lancôme, Lather, Dr. HYPERLINK “http://www.drbrandtskincare.com/p/pores-no-more/anti-aging-mattifying-lotion” Brandt Skincare, Emerge Stem Cell Skincare actually seemed to have positive feedbacks from the customer. Thus, more research is needed to confirm the true potential of the stem cells from plants.

To add more to it-A recent research by the makers of Adonia LegTone - Green Island Labs in Britain has developed a so-called ‘Miracle cream’ that can remove cellulite from any part



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of the body in just 9 minutes.

The company claims that their product contains plant stem cells made from natural plant embryos, mixed with 23 plant oils including ginger oil, rosemary oil and lemon peel oil. They justify that the plant stem cells ‘helps to re-awaken and reactivate dormant or less active skin stem cells that cause sagging of skin to form bags, back to the levels they were in your 20s’. The company says its claims are backed up by ‘independent clinical trials’. In tests on women, the cream reduced the appearance of cellulite by 47% in 9 minutes and ~70% over 6 weeks.

The tests were carried out by an AMA Laboratories in New York. However, the results of the trials have not been published, and the company has declined to say how they were carried out.

The product is called ‘gibberish’ by many researchers but is supported by positive feedbacks from the users of the product.

Parthenogenic human stem cellsThese stem cells are produced from an unfertilized

egg that was exposed to certain chemicals that mimic the action of sperm cells and formed a parthenogenic embryo. These stem cells eliminated the use of a donor for sperms and also allowed a more regulated condi-tions. The stem cells derived from human are believed to show better results than those from plants as

They can work as Kupffer cells, the stem cells pres-ent in skin.

They can differentiate into the mature epidermal cells once present in the human extra cellular envi-ronment to form a new layer of skin.

They can secrete collagen, which helps in lifting and tightening the skin.

The Lifeline skin care company has introduced this product into the market which perhaps has shown good results.

Autologous Fat stem cell Repair Therapy (FsCR)This stem cell therapy has shown every promising results in not only cosmetic therapy but also in knee replacement surgery, autism, degenerative conditions like arthritis and Parkinson’s disease.

Skin and Hair Regeneration process


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Fat is extracted or harvested from the patient’s own body and then injected back after being processed to iso-late cells.

The fat from the patient can be isolated from thighs or hips, and is put into a machine that isolates the stem cell from the grease and is either injected back superficially on the skin or given intravenously to the patient

Advantages offered by this technique are

No immune-rejection

Help get rid of fat from unwanted region

Though it is a surgical procedure, it is completely invasive. It takes only about 6 minutes to numb an area on the body, another 3 minutes to harvest the fat, put a little dressing, and an hour later and you have got your stem cells.

The procedure is actively used in treating hair loss and stimulating hair growth in alopecia as well.

Hair follicles in the skin has surplus amount of stem cells. Once these get old or damaged, they become inca-pable of regenerating the hair growth. Once the activated stem cells have been injected in the scalp, molecular signals can be sent to the follicle which in turn results in hair growth.

In this process, a small amount of fat is taken from the waist or hip of the person through a mini-liposuction process. This fat, which contains dormant stem cells, is put in a centrifuge and spun to separate the stem cells from the fat. An activation solution containing cell division promoting factors is added to these cells. Now, the stem cells are injected directly into the scalp that causes hair growth in about four weeks.

The concept behind this is the property of adipose stem cell to release epidermal growth factor , DLX4, nestin and various other factors that stimulate epidermal cell division in hair follicle and thus more number of these epidermal cells keratinize to form the hair shaft.

Who should refrain from such treatments?Patients with cancer or with an active infection, as once a pathogen gets into the bloodstream, it contaminates the adipose tissue and the surrounding area so the recipient’s condition becomes worse if injected with the already infected fat cells.

Stay healthy with happy stem cell skin!


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ethical issues: Stem cells

Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells with ability to differentiate into specialized cells. Owing to its unique properties like capacity of self-renewal and potency, scientists are excited to explore its enor-mous therapeutic potential to treat various diseases. Stem cell therapies can reduce morbidity but there are fears regarding unexpected results, which may create unwanted health effects.

Stem cells have proven its excellence to cure plethora of diseases including Parkinson’s disease, schizophre-nia, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, spinal cord injuries and diabetes. Limbs and organs can be made and transplanted. Better results are obtained through such transplants as organs are made from the cells of the patient itself. One of the major advantage is that the key to reversing the process of aging and prolonging our lives also stays within it.

As most in our modern world celebrates the effective-ness of stem cell therapies against diseases, there is also a part of society that debates against the therapy with points strong enough to be considered. Stem cell therapy could pass on microscopic agents that may cause disease. Many stem cell cultures are grown in laboratories and for that animal sources are used to provide nutrients to the cell. These animal sources may act as disease causing agent and may pass diseases on to humans through stem cell therapies. This fact has become one of the key factor that questions the safety of usage of stem cell therapies as screening methods are not yet well developed to detect the disease that can be transmitted.

Stem cells can divide quickly to form specialized tis-sue. These cells require proper protocols by which they can grow. If its growth is uncontrolled there are chances of tumor formation. Misdirected growth (occurs when transplanted stem cells differentiate into the wrong type of the tissue) of stem cells may pro-duce unwanted results.

The usage of embryonic stem cells is also highly ques-tioned as it involves the destruction of blastocyst formed from laboratory fertilized human egg. A partic-ular set of people believe blastocyst to be a living form (since it may grow into a human being) and so the act of killing it is immoral. To counter this argument, researchers have succeeded in reverting adult stem cells to cells similar to HESCs by activating four spe-cific genes in the adult cells. Such reprogrammed cells are termed as ‘Induced Pluripotent Cells (iPSC)’ and can eliminate the need of using HESCs in the future. However, some still believe that more work should be done in the areas of both HESCs and iPSCs to confirm whether iPSCs have the same potential as HESCs or not; also, the safety issues related to the transplant of iPSCs in humans. Thus, continue the controversies in HESC research.

The potential offered by HESC research for therapeu-tic purposes is far higher than the issues against it and strongly favor the research. Most criticisers say that the restrictions against taking innocent lives for the pro-viding social utility should be practiced even on HESC researches. This doesn’t mean all stem cells research needs to be suppressed as not all researches need HESC derived from human embryos, most researches utilize cell lines made available by researchers, who derived HESC previously. The logic of the argument

Ethical issues hindering embryonic stem cell research


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ethical issues: Stem cells

against killing embryos is that human embryos are human beings.

The moral status of human embryos is also a huge issue to be tackled. If we agree that the 5-day human embryo is a human being, then the standard argument against HESC research is that being a member of the species Homo sapiens confers on the embryo a right not to be killed. This view is completely grounded in the belief that human beings have the same moral status at all stages of their lives.There is still no com-mon viewpoint to decide about the abilities that are necessary for the right to life, though some properties like reasoning, agency and self-awareness have been listed. There is only a quantitative difference between the mental capabilities of embryos, foetuses, infants, children and adults (as well as among infants, children and adults), and this distinction cannot justify treat-ing some of these individuals with moral respect while denying it to others. Embryos are believed to possess a kind of potential that somatic cells and HESCs lack. An embryo has potential of having an ‘active dispo-sition’ and ‘intrinsic power’ to develop into a mature human being. An embryo can mature on its own into an adult in the absence of interference with its devel-opment. Although an embryo lacks mental abilities as a human being, but it still has the potential to grow into a well-developed human being; thus, its killing is opposed.

The further issue in this research is the case of ‘doomed embryos,’ which are spare embryos existing after fertil-ity treatment. Such embryos are created for individu-als and they have the option of storing them for future reproductive purposes, donating them to couples in need, donating them for research purposes or dis-carding them. The final decision regarding the embryo is in the hands of the respective individual and if the embryo is of no use to them and they decide to dis-card it, in that case it is morally permissible to use the embryo for research purposes instead of discarding it. We can rather say that it is not at all unethical to kill an individual who is about to be killed by someone else. Or we can also say that HESC research does not actu-ally kill the embryo but is just a manner of their death.

Researchers found a way out by starting to use the

leftover embryos created for infertility treatment, but this practice is not as fruitful as expected. There are various scientific and therapeutic reasons that prompt us not to rely entirely on leftover IVF embryos. From the scientific viewpoint, creating embryos via cloning techniques with cells having several genetic mutations would restrict the findings. On a therapeutic note, such embryos are not as genetically diverse as requisite for addressing the problems of immune rejection by those receiving a stem cell transplant. Therefore, the best strategy to address such issues is to create a public stem cell bank with ample genetic diversity of pools of stem cell lines, which requires creation of embryos from gamete donors who share the same HLA-types.

In spite all the opposition this arena of research has received, it is still going on with a considerably high pace and is sure to get remarkable results that will be benefitting for the human race.


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Stem cell therapy

Stem cells are biological cells that are not differenti-ated and have the ability to proliferate into specialized cells or can further divide, through the phenomenon of mitosis, into more stem cells. Stem cells are found in multicellular life forms, like in mammals, there are two categories of stem cells, namely:

Embryonic stem cells: Isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocyst (which is a collection of ~100 cells formed after 4–6 days of fertilization of an egg and a sperm).

Adult stem cells: Isolated from various tissues.

Stem cells are known for their unique properties of self-renewal through multiple cell division cycles with-out differentiating, and Potencyb that is their ability to differentiate into specialized cell types.

Stem cells research is still in its infancy, but has slowly begun to play essential role in developing novel tech-niques for the treatment of chronic ailments, espe-cially genetic disorders. The potential offered by stem cells is being exploited for the treatment of neurolog-ical disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurological degen-erative disorder of the Central Nervous System, whose symptoms are caused owing to eventual death of spe-cific neurons in the brain that are responsible for the production of dopamine in the Substantia Nigra (a mid-brain region mediating the control and coordina-tion of movements). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter identified to have a role in sending signals to the nerve cells.

Parkinson’s disease is known to be the second most common neuro-degenerative disorder preceded by Alzheimer’s disease, affecting ~5 million people across the globe. The noticeable symptoms of this disease appear only when 80% of dopamine-producing neu-rons die. Initial stage is marked by movement-related problems like shaking, rigidity, difficulty in walking,

slowness of movement and so on. In the later stages, patients may suffer from behavioural and thinking problems along with dementia and depression. Other symptoms may include sleep, sensory and emotional issues. Parkinson’s disease is generally seen in people over 50 years of age; however, exceptions have also been encountered.

Stem cells have been found to have significant poten-tial for developing disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson’s disease, and researchers have been suc-cessful in regenerating dopamine-producing cells from stem cells in the laboratory and are trying to study the disease to dig down to the root cause of this disorder. Stem cells therapy presents a much targeted treatment outlook for eradicating this disease in the near future because scientists have been able to suc-cessfully conclude that the majority of the motor defi-ciencies occurring in Parkinson’s disease are clearly an outcome of the failure of one specific type of cells called the dopamine-producing neurons. It has been observed that with the replacement of dopamine in the Central Nervous System of animal models as well

Stem cell therapy-a complete tool box to treat Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease


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Stem cell therapy

as human patients, the symptoms of Parkinson’s com-paratively diminish. Such remarkable observations have encouraged researchers to test a diverse variety of stem cells, like foetal stem cells, endogenous stem cells, embryonic stem cells, neural stem cells and so forth, for their capacity to proliferate as functional dopamine-producing neurons or at least provide alter-natives of protective growth factors for neurons that are at risk. Although still theoretically, but the trans-plant of such cells or their progenitors into the brain can bring about some degree of functional recovery in Parkinson’s patients. In the long term, scientists are also working on how to utilize the hidden poten-tials of the stem cells to eliminate those symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which are not directly linked with the loss of dopamine in the brain. Some questions still need to be answered specifically like which stem cells are better, what is the best way to transplant cells into the human brain, which cell markers should be used to track the stem cells that survive, divide and produce dopamine.

Although there is still a long way to go, the pace at which the research work is going on, we are sure to get answers to all these questions soon and that would surely cause a drastic deterioration in the number of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Besides Parkinson’s disease, stem cells have also thrown light on methods to develop effective treat-ment against another life-threatening disease called Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most prominent form of dementia and worsens as it progresses with age and finally leads to death. Alzheimer’s disease is unique in form for every individual, but it still has some common symptoms that are often confused with ‘age-related’ issues and outcomes of stress. In initial stage, symp-toms include remembering problems, behavioural issues and so forth. As the disease becomes severe, symptoms like confusion, aggression, irritability, mood swings, language troubles and memory loss begin to occur. Patients eventually withdraw from family and society. Eventually bodily functions are lost.

Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease show pro-gressive deterioration of cognitive functions as a result of cell degeneration in a specific part of the brain

called ‘nucleus basalis of Meynert’. The most common indicators of Alzheimer’s disease are the formation of ‘tangles’ and ‘plaques’ in the brain and by this time the disease has already caused severe physical damage that is irreparable.

The major cause, as identified, is the loss and discon-nection of many nerve cells. It was found that the stem cells do exist in some restricted parts of the brain, where they constantly divide to renew themselves and also make new nerve cells. Efforts are, since then, being made to test this specific population of stem cells for their properties to device methods to differentiate these stem cells from the other cells in the brain and also to obtain a pure population of these stem cells to exploit their potential. A better understanding of these cells would help in developing drug therapies that can induce these native stem cells to differentiate into spe-cific nerve cells, which are needed by the brain. Efforts are also being made to identify the environmental fac-tors that prevent these stem cells from forming new nerve cells that have been lost. Another approach that is being worked on is a Neural Stem Cells (NSC) graft, which when grafted in the brain can have the ability to migrate to affected regions and proliferate into the required types of cells that have been lost owing to Alzheimer’s disease and then promote recovery of the brain functions as well as the cellular population.

Outstanding endeavours are being made by research-ers to study environmental effects in Alzheimer’s disease-affected brain, manipulations made to trans-planted and native stem cells to formulate a better technique to combat this disease. Success has been achieved in repairing various animal models of brain injury and degeneration. Though this is a long process, still the stem cell biologists are taking us more closer to device novel stem cell-based techniques of treating diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Stem cells


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biopreneur story

James Alexander Thomson is known as the ‘Father of Stem Cell Research’ for his outstanding contribu-tions in the field of developmental biology. He is best known for his outstanding discovery of the first human embryonic stem cell line in 1998 and for also deriving human-induced pluripotent stem cells in the year 2007.

James A. Thomson was born on 20th December, 1958 in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburban area in Chicago. His father was a certified public accountant and his mother was in college administration.

His passion for science was not inherited, but he surely realised his inclinations at an early age. His initial edu-cation was focussed on maths and physics, but after joining the University of Illinois he got acquainted with a biology Professor, Fredrick Meins, who was then working on a plant virus. Professor Meins influenced Dr. Thomson to work in the field of human embryol-ogy, and thus laid the foundations of his later work with human stem cells. Thereby, James Thomson was transformed into a budding molecular biologist from a physicist and mathematician.

He graduated from the University of Illinois in Biophysics and then moved to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue his graduate studies in the

field of molecular biology. While pursuing his gradu-ation, he undertook several doctoral studies in veter-inary medicine and earned doctorates in both these disciplines. Dr. Thomson was fascinated by the stem cell researches going on in the 1980s. Determined to learn more about this sphere of research, he took up post-doctoral research at the Oregon National Primate Research Centre. At that time, primate embryos were rarely available for research, but James Thomson sought a means to support himself while undertaking his efforts to isolate and culture embryonic stem cells.

He was later given an opportunity by the University of Wisconsin Primate Centre in the form of a post-doctoral fellowship. He also got a residency in pathology, which helped a lot in his work. His constant efforts bore fruit in the year 1995 when his team successfully derived embryonic stem cells from embryos fertilised in vitro. He further wished to isolate stem cells from human embryos, which had many ethical issues attached with it that hindered Dr. Thomson’s research. Later on, after realizing that the benefits of this research would out-number the drawbacks, he continued his work with private funding and succeeded in isolating human embryonic stem cells in the year 1998.

Dr. Thomson’s discovery of embryonic stem cells was

A Revolutionary, Dreamer and a Bio-preneur : Dr. James Thomson

“I think every kid is a scientist and for some kids it goes away, and for some kids it doesn’t. In my case it just never went away”.— James

Alexander Thomson


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biopreneur story

hailed as a monumental breakthrough with the initial benefits of a better understanding of the nature of human diseases and may later on also turn out to be a miraculous new transplant alternative and also as a cure for various ailments. The benefits proposed by the research induced the then President George W. Bush in 2001 to allow the federal funding for Dr. Thomson’s research.

There were many issues which often hindered the project, but they never affect Dr. Thomson’s determination. After this discovery, he took up a new objective of reverting adult cells to the undifferentiated, pluripotent state so that the need for further research on human embryos could be reduced manifold. He succeeded in achieving this goal in the year 2008.

Dr. Thomson suggested that the major benefits of this project will be the ability to regenerate different cells of the body in the laboratory, a better understanding of their functions, to develop possible treatment strategies.

Dr. Thomson is presently Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research in Madison, Wisconsin and as a Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health.

As an entrepreneur, Dr. James A. Thomson founded a company named as Cellular Dynamics International, which deals with the development and manufacture of fully functioning human cells in industrial bulk scale. Dr. Thomson is one of the founders and also a member of the Board of Directors of Cellular Dynamics International since 2007. He has published over 150 scientific peer-reviewed papers and also has 30 patents on his name. Work from his laboratory has been cited amongst the ‘Top 10 Discoveries of the year’ in the TIME’s magazine.

The determination and passion of Dr. James A. Thomson surely inspires all aspiring researches and entrepre-neurs to chase their dreams and try to the best if their abilities to turn their dreams into reality.

Dr. James Thomson, director of regenerative biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research


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NlWC

Divine resurrection is the not the area of research among any biological discipline. But the term resur-rection is no longer a topic that comes under science fiction. The possibility of resurrection without divine intervention is now a hope of science and the base for this is what we call, a stem cell. A high school grade biology will make you understand how a cell a divide through mitosis. A liver cell divides to make new liver and not any other cell type. This is true for all other spe-cialized cells. But, there is certain other group of undif-ferentiated cells in our body, which has the capacity to form any cell type. This is what we call a stem cell. This basic idea helps us to go deeper.

Let’s check what the past was, what the present is and what will be the future of human kind, in accordance with the potentiality of stem cell. If a tail is detached from the lizard, it has an innate ability to rebuild it, a process generally called regeneration. Although watching this, a ‘Magical If’ comes to mind of the one who thinks that ‘If I had that ability!’ But unfortunately, we do not have the ability to regenerate. A detached organ of the body is an everlasting misery of the mind. We developed substitutes to these lost organs, but the full function of the organ was not restored. Like we know, magic of one generation is the science of next.

The undifferentiated stem cell has got the capacity to develop in to any cell type. Moreover, these cells can divide multiple numbers of times, so that stem cells can develop into a tissue of any particular cell type. This forms the basis of regenerative medicine. In the initial stage, the stem cell is isolated and then it is cul-tured. Many questions may arise in the mind of those who do not have strict biological roots, like from where these stem cells isolated, how it can be differentiated, how it is cultured, how the cultured cell can be used for organ regeneration therapy and so on. I do not intend to answer these questions because all these are described in detail by the biological world. Instead of repeating all these answered ‘How’ questions, I would

like to point out the comparatively unanswered ‘Why’ question. More clearly, ‘Why it is done?’ A person does not need any sort of roots in biology to think who will be benefited from such an expensive therapeutic strat-egy like stem cell therapy. Do you think that a common man will get back his lost arm or leg by this innova-tive therapy? What percent of the human population can bear the expense to carry out this treatment? The answers are obvious.

Now, looking on to the future, lots of ongoing research aims at improving the existing techniques in stem cell for organ regeneration. Apparently, huge amount of money is spent for this purpose. Within a couple of decade, those who can bear the expense of organ regeneration can get their lost organs replace with full functionality. It is pointing out to a community of rich people who cannot have a lost body part. While the others will still suffer from the loss of an organ and this will clearly create a drift between the rich and the poor. The ultimate consequence will be a war including the entire mankind on the planet. We do not need to num-ber it as World War III or IV because that will be the culmination of all wars. See the paradox, a mere cell inside our body can even endanger the entire human race. Well, this may or may not happen, but this is a possibility that need consideration. I insist that the bio-tech community that includes me, to find solutions to these problems, before further exploration of stem cell research. If they fail to do so, it will be a let down to the scientific community and people who look at it as a ray of hope.

Nabil Mohammed K.K VIT University

Stem cell: Human resurrection or mass destruction?


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Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types. Commonly, stem cells come from two main sources:

Embryos formed during the blastocyst phase of embryological development (embryonic stem cells),

Adult tissue (adult stem cells).

Both types are generally characterized by their potency or potential to differentiate into different cell types (such as skin, muscle, bone and so forth).

In the recent past, the word ‘stem cell’ has generated a tremendous interest among the scientific com-munity and general public. The penultimate Nobel Prize awarded to a stem cell biologist vouch for that. According to Dr. Veena Puri, Associate professor in Center for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, “Stem cell research holds out the promise of finding cures and treatments for a wide range of diseases.” Every one of us completely regen-erates our own skin every 7 days. A cut heals itself and disappears in a week or two. Every single cell in our skeleton is replaced every 7 years. The future of medicine lies in understanding how the body creates itself out of a single cell and the mechanisms by which it renews itself throughout life. When we achieve this goal, we will be able to replace damaged tissues and help the body regenerate itself, potentially curing or easing the suffering of those afflicted by disorders like heart disease, Alzheimers, Parkinsons, diabetes, spinal cord injury and cancer. “A new era of research has ini-tiated with extraordinary advances in pluripotent stem cell research. Patients of specific induced pluripotent stem cells thus enabled scientists to undertake studies for treating diseases (in a dish), which was previously inconceivable,” says Baldeep Chani, Junior Research Fellow at Center For Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering. Research undertaken since 2004 suggests that the stem cells in the adult body could be rejuvenated, restored to action with the right biochemical cues. Furthermore, there is every reason to expect that

future medicine will involve the repair and restoration of aged stem cells before their use in regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine will help produce extended healthy longevity, as we will be able to repair some of the damage caused by aging, organ by organ. Aging damages every part of our bodies, including the stem cells required for regenerative therapies.

Some of the most impressive demonstrations of regen-erative medicine since the turn of the century have used varying forms of stem cells—embryonic, adult and, most recently, induced pluripotent stem cells—to trigger healing in the patient. A great deal of press attention, for example, has been given to successes in alleviating life-threatening heart conditions. However, successes have been demonstrated in repairing dam-age in other organs like the liver, kidneys and so forth.

Stem cell research is a hot topic in the press. It has been in the news non-stop for a good number of years: not a week goes by without the announcement of a new and amazing advance. However, a lot is yet to come. According to Dr. Anuj Gupta, Assisstant Professor at Stem Cell And Tissue Engineering Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh, “With the recent reports of building a heart in vitro and bio printing organs like liver, employing stem cells along with various precise cues delivered at the right place and time, undermining or arguing their role in regenerative medicine would be a colossal error. Eventually, the conundrum around the stem cells have just begin to demystify and adding a few years of life to a helplessly dying human makes all these efforts worthwhile.”

No doubt a tough road lies ahead, I hope that the com-ing future will be a new dawn in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, resolving all fights and ethical issues and saving the precious lives of common man.

Paramjit Kaur Panjab University

Stem cells and their role and scope in regenerative medicine

Stem cells


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bio-extract

Health is the functional and metabolic efficiency of liv-ing being, usually refers to a person’s mind and body free from illness, injury and pain. WHO defined it as ‘a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infir-mity’. As man is progressing in every aspects of life, a new age of diseases like cancer has been introduced into human society creating severe health disorders. Achieving and maintaining health is an ongoing pro-cess, shaped by both the knowledge of health care and practices as well as personal strategies and organized interventions for staying healthy. Apart from medica-tion, researchers are beginning to unlock the mystery of health science by exploiting persons own cellular processes and its use in treatment of severe diseases. One of the most amazing and cutting edge technol-ogy has been found to be use of persons own cells (stem cells) as therapeutic tool for eradiating diseases. In this context, stem cell transplantation is an exciting area of disease treatment. It is a well-established treat-ment for several cancers and diseases of blood for few decades. This can be of 2 types:

Autologous transplant (stem cell collected from one’s own body)

Allogenetic transplant (stem cell from someone’s else body)

Many of the severe diseases, like aplastic anemia, thalas-semia, diabetes, leukemia, muscular dystrophy, multiple myeloma, autism, stroke, bowel syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, have been successfully treated with stem cell therapy in India and abroad. Worldwide stem cell-based therapy has been achieved by many countries like U.S.A, Germany, Mexico, Austria, China and so forth. Currently, India is undergoing stem cell transplantation for its better health care and life style management. The first successful case with respect to stem cell transplanta-tion is that of a Colombian woman. The windpipe tissue of this woman was constructed from a combination of donated tissue and her own cells.

Technology applied: Stem cells harvested from the woman’s bone marrow were used to populate a stripped-down section of windpipe received from a donor, which was then transplanted into her body in June. The surgery was headed by surgeon Martin Birchall, professor of surgery at the University of Bristol, UK.

The second success story was achieved by researchers at the University of Padua, Italy, led by Maria Teresa Conconi. They successfully replaced the wind-pipe by taking stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow and coaxed them in the laboratory to develop a carti-lage that normally coats windpipes that were severely damaged by tuberculosis.

The third case of success achieved in Barcelona. Surgeon Paolo Macchiarini replaced the patients dam-aged trachea with the newly constructed tissue. The patient received the finished organ in June at the Hospital Clinic.

In 2006, Anthony Atala, Forest university medical school, North Carolina, declared that his team had operated seven children with bladders damages. His team reconstructed bladders from the respective

Stem cell transplantation-A unique breakthrough in recent times


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child’s tissue by stem cell transplantation.

Current stem cell based treatments: Indian contextMost of the primary health care centers, hospitals and assistant bioscience solution centers are emerg-ing organizations in the field of stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine by stem cell transplantation.

Dr. Chirag Shah, Director, Department of Hematology, Oncology and Stem cell transplants, Apollo International Hospitals, Ahmedabad, has done the first successful Autologous Stem Cell Transplant for Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Gujarat and first Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant for Leukemia in private sector of Gujarat. He has also performed maximum number of transplants in private sector of Gujarat, at Apollo Hospitals/CBCC, Ahmadabad.

Apollo international hospitals at various centers in India have been a promising and premier institute in this regard. Diseases with success clinical improvement

and survival rate of patients of stem cell therapies at this center has been provided in the following table:

Diseases No of Patients Cured and improved survival(%)

Multiple myeloma 11 11 100Lymphoma 12 08 66AML 04 02 50CML 02 02 100ALL 02 00 No survivalThalassemia 02 02 100MDS 01 01 100Aplastic anemia 01 01 100

Apollo hospital stem cell therapy resultAnother case of stem cell-based therapy, Balakrishan Baldev, a 42-year-old Bangalorean, had stem cell sur-gery of the spinal cord in Live -100 hospital, India. After being successfully treated with stem cell transplanta-tion, his spinal cord is now working properly as before, showcasing advanced stem cell treatment in India.

Stem RX bioscience solution, Mumbai, provides better

Detr No Imp Mild Imp Mod Imp Sig Imp0

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6.22%14.78%

33.48%31.0%

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79.0%Over all improvements seen in total 900 patients treated with stem cell

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21.0%

79.0%Over all improvements seen in total 900 patients treated with stem cell


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living strategies in health care by stem cell therapy treatments in India. In diseases like osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, diabetes mellitus, mus-cular dystrophy, renal failure, autism and so forth, suc-cessful stem cell therapy has been achieved in this centre headed by Dr. P. Mahajan.

The advancells health care treatment centre, Noida, U.P. is another stem cell treatment center for amylo-tropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cerebral palsy, diabetes, ischemic heart diseases, multiple sclerosis, parkin-son’s disease, spinal cord injury and a stroke. Around 60–70% clinical improvement has been observed in patients conditions with stem cell therapy.

Neurogen—brain and spine institute at Mumbai, Maharastra deals with advanced stem cell-based ther-apy and treatments, and has been found to be most successful. In previous years, 900 patients with severe diseases like muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy have been treated successfully in this center and success rate is about 80% in terms of clinical improvements. The graph below demonstrates the over all improvements in disease diagnosis in this health care centre.

Out of the country’s many primary health centers, one of the promising one is The Treatment Assistance, health care center at Bangalore provides world class stem cell treatment for severe degenerative diseases. Patients from the country as well as from abroad are coming for treatment to this centre with 100% survival rate.

Recently, Opara David Nnawuihie from Lagos came for brain tumor treatment and has been success-fully treated with stem cell therapy. With 100% brain regeneration, on the end of the treatment he said, “I got quality and affordable treatment, thanks to the almighty God, who through Treatment Assistance cen-tre handed us over the best hands”.

Apart from stem cell use in regenerative medicine, it has some difficulties in genetic stability and ethical concerns. As scientists make strides toward under-standing the process in depth, additional applications, approaches and techniques will likely emerge will play a pivotal role in future research into the biology

of development and the treatment of disease for bet-terment of society. The most recent stem cell-based technology is use of adult stem cell and recombinant stem cells for better disease treatment in health care industry in the country.

By Balaram Mohapatra Email: [email protected]


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recent news

scientist says GM crops can’t be overlooked for long

The genetically modified (GM) crops were an important technological advancement which the country can-not overlook for long in view of its priorities and policies such as national food security, said Akhilesh Ku-mar Tyagi, Director, National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), an autonomous body aided by

Department of Biotechnology under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

“This is an important technology to benefit the people and we should have a clear policy on this so that it is not restricted. At the same time, all quality controls should be in place as is done in the case of any new technology,” he told The Hindu on the sidelines of a two-day symposium on Emerging Trends in Plant Biotechnology, inau-gurated here on Friday.

Earlier delivering a lecture, he said there were a lot of similarities in the genes present in rice, bacteria and humans. “If you believe in evolution of organism, then all genes have evolved from some common point and, therefore, the kind of boundaries between vegetarian protein and non-vegetarian protein get blurred.”

On duplication and triplication of genes in plants, he said triplication of genes in tomato occurred at a time when dinosaurs disappeared from the earth. “In that period, there had been great changes in the environment and to adapt to those changes the plants got a duplicated genome. Then they diversified and this helped adoption and evolution of the plant types that we have today,” he said.

“If there is more than one gene, the pressure on the genes gets reduced and it paves way for them to diversify and occupy a different niche in order to provide something useful for the human beings,” he said.

Source :-The HINDU TIMES.

Recent news in Biotechnology


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Google’s new sugar- sensing contact lens

The Google lab known for working on unusual projects like self-driving cars is crafting contact lens that could help diabetics manage blood sug-

ar levels.

“We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears,” project co-founders Brian Otis and Babak Parviz said Thursday in a blog post.

The lens works “using a tiny wireless chip and minia-turized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material,” Otis and Parviz said.

They said prototypes have undergone clinical tests and talks were underway with the US Food and Drug Administration. The project was described as being in its early days, and partners were being sought to make the lenses marketplace reality.

“As you can imagine, tears are hard to collect and study,” the Google X lab team members said.

“We wondered if miniaturized electronics -- think chips and sensors so small they look like bits of glitter, and an antenna thinner than a human hair -- might be the way to crack the mystery of tear glucose and measure it with greater accuracy.”

Prototype lenses being tested at Google X can generate

glucose readings about once a second. Researchers are looking into integrating tiny lights that would warn when blood sugar levels go above or below threshold levels, according to the blog post.

“We’ve always said that we’d seek out projects that seem a bit speculative or strange,” Otis and Parviz said. “At a time when the International Diabetes Federation is declaring that the world is ‘losing the battle’ against diabetes, we thought this project was worth a shot.”

Google cited figures indicating that diabetes affects one in every 19 people on the planet.

Source:- http://news.discovery.com

scientists move closer to stem cell cure for type 1 diabetes

Researchers say they have reversed equivalent of type 1 diabetes in mice using stem cell transplants

Scientists believe they may have moved a step closer to a cure for the type of diabetes that develops in childhood and usually leads to a lifetime of insulin injections.

Researchers in California report that they have reversed the equivalent of type 1 diabetes in mice through trans-plants of stem cells. Their experiments have replaced cells in the pancreas damaged by the disease that are unable to make insulin.

Without insulin, the body has difficulty absorbing


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sugars such as glucose from the blood. The disease usually first shows in childhood or early adulthood and used to be a killer, but glucose levels can now be mon-itored and regulated with insulin injections.

Scientists have long wanted to try to replace the dam-aged ß-cells that normally produce insulin. This has been one of the prime targets of stem cell experiments. But until now, it has proved difficult, partly because mature ß-cells do not readily regenerate.

Writing in the journal Cell Stem Cell, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco describe how they took a step back and collected skin cells, called fibroblasts, from laboratory mice. Then, by treating the fibroblasts with a unique “cocktail” of molecules and reprogramming factors, they transformed the cells into endoderm-like cells. Endoderm cells are a type of cell found in the early embryo, and which eventually mature into the body’s major organs – including the pancreas. “Using another chemical cocktail, we then transformed these endoderm-like cells into cells that mimicked early pancreas-like cells, which we called PPLCs,” said the Gladstone postdoctoral scholar Ke Li, the paper’s lead author. “Our initial goal was to see whether we could coax these PPLCs to mature into cells that, like ß-cells, respond to the correct chemi-cal signals and – most importantly – secrete insulin. And our initial experiments, performed in a petri dish, revealed that they did.”

The team then injected these cells into mice that had been genetically modified to have high glucose levels, mimicking the type 1 diabetes condition in humans.

“Importantly, just one week post-transplant, the ani-mals’ glucose levels started to decrease, gradually approaching normal levels,” said Li. “And when we removed the transplanted cells, we saw an immedi-ate glucose spike, revealing a direct link between the transplantation of the PPLCs and reduced hyperglyce-mia [high glucose level].”

Eight weeks after the transplantation, the scientists found that the pancreas-like cells had turned into the real thing – fully functional insulin-secreting ß-cells had developed in the mice.

The team says this is proof of principle, which one day

might be used to cure type 1 diabetes in humans. “I am particularly excited about the prospect of translat-ing these findings to the human system,” said Matthias Hebrok, one of the study’s authors and director of the UCSF Diabetes Center. “Most immediately, this tech-nology in human cells could significantly advance our understanding of how inherent defects in ß-cells result in diabetes, bringing us notably closer to a much-needed cure.

Source:- Medical News Today

Nanoparticles: pills for the future

Delivering medicine directly to the affected area provides direct access to the diseased area. Nanoparticles hold promise as a delivery meth-

od but are currently only available in injectable forms. Now, researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have made a breakthrough by finding a way of delivering nanoparticles orally.

Nanoparticles loaded with chemotherapydrugs or short interfering RNA, which can turn off selected genes, are currently in clinical trials to treat cancer and other diseases.

After the particles are intravenously injected into patients, they seep through the leaky blood vessels that typically surround tumors and diseased tissue, and release their payload at the tumor site.

But new research, published in Science Translational Medicine, is exploring alternatives to shots.

The researchers claim to have made breakthroughs that will smooth the way for the oral delivery of these “micro medicines.” They explain that oral adminis-tration has proved challenging in the past because it cannot travel across the intestinal epithelium into the bloodstream.

Senior author and director of the Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Omid Farokhzad explains:

Source:- Medical News Today


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In India, the strategy for promoting stem cell research is gradually taking shape. Over 30 institutions, hospitals and industry are involved in Stem Cell Research in the country. With the global market of biomedicine expected to reach US $20 billion by 2013, excellent career opportunities will be available to post graduate students from diverse science fields.

The government has invested ~8.0 million US dollars for Stem Cell Research alone in the last 2 years. Thus, it offers a promising career in India as well.

Classified stem cells research centers based on type of research doneArea Of Research Institutes in IndiaEmbryonic stem cell research International center of stem cells, cancer and biotechnology, Pune

National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore National Centre for Cell Science, Pune National Brain Research Centre, Manesar Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvanthapuram Chaitanya stem cell, Pune The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem),Bangalore Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore

Bone marrow stem cells (stromal and hematopoietic)

National Centre for Cell Science, Pune Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of mononuclear cells Medical Sciences, Lucknow Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education &Research, Chandigarh Christian Medical College, Vellore All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai Research & Referral Hospital, New Delhi Manipal Hospital, Bangalore

Neural stem cells Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore National Brain Research Centre, Manesar National Centre for Cell Science, Pune

Mesenchymal stem cells Nichi-In* Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) ,Tamilnadu Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine (MIRM), Bangalore Christian Medical College, Vellore Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of MedicalSciences, Lucknow Bose Institute, Kolkata KEM Hospital, Mumbai

Liver stem cells Centre for Liver Research and Diagnostics, Hyderabad Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad

Cardiac stem cells Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences &Technology, Thiruvananthapuram

Cancer stem cells Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology,Hyderabad Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education andResearch, Chandigarh Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of cell research Medical Sciences,Lucknow

Places to go for extensive research in Stem Cell Science in India


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Limbal stem cells L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad R. P. Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Kolkata

Pancreatic progenitor cells National Institute of Nutrition, HyderabadCord blood bank Reliance Life Sciences, Mumbai

Life Cell, Chennai

Top Schools in India for a graduation in Stem cells (M.Sc, Integrated Ph.D., M.D. /Ph.D.)1. Center For Stem Cell Science, Hyderabad

2. International center of stem cells, cancer and biotechnology, Pune

3. Centre for Stem Cell Research, Christian Medical College Campus, Vellore

4. National Centre for Cell Science, Pune

5. Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

6. Indian Institute of Science, Banglore

7. Chaitanya stem cell, Pune

8. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore

9. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore

10. Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine (MIRM), Bangalore

11. Nichi-In* Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) ,Tamil Nadu

12. Centre for Liver Research and Diagnostics, Hyderabad

13. The Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem)

14. School of science, Narsee Monjee Institue of Management studies

15. Padamshree Dr. D.Y Patel University, Navi Mumbai

16. Manav Rachna International University, Delhi

Best schools for research in stem cells out-side India. (M.S., Ph.D.)1. Harvard Stem Cell Institute , U.S

2. Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering (ICE) , U.S

3. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, U.S

4. National Human Neural Stem Cell Resource, U.S

5. New York Stem Cell Science (NYSTEM). U.S

6. Pittsburgh Development Center of Magee-Women Research Institute Sloan-Kettering Institute, U.S

7. Stanford University School of Medicine/Institute for Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine, U.S

8. Nayang Technical University, School of biological science, Singapore

9. Max Planck Institute of molecular biomedicine, Germany

10. Texas Heart Institute Stem Cell Center, U.S

11. Tulane Center for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, U.S

12. University of California, San Francisco/Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, U.S

13. University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine’s Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, U.S

14. University of Minnesota: Stem Cell Institute, U.S

15. University of Pennsylvania: Institute for Regenerative Medicine, U.S

16. University of Wisconsin/Embryonic Stem Cell Research, U.S


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Career Prospects:

A Postgraduate in Life sciences can get into a stem cell company as a Quality Control /QA Executive/ Production executive and gain sufficient knowledge in the cord blood hematopoietic stem cells banking, Adult stem cell culturing, cGMP , ISO and clean room facilities required for processing and storage of the stem cells and move up in the hierarchy ladder.

A) Premier Institution’s :

a) Centre for Stem cell Research, Vellore

b) Institute for Stem cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore

c) NCBS, Bangalore

d) National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai

e) Manipal Research institute, Manipal

B) Companies In stem cell research in India :

a) Unistem Biosciences Private Limited, Gurgaon

b) Stempeutics, Bangalore

c) Ansa, Bangalore

d) Kaisihaik Research, Mumbai

e) TotipotentSC

C) Cord Blood Banking Industry in India:

a) Life cell

b) Cord Life

c) Stemone

d) Stemcyte

e) Cyro save

f) Cyrobank International

g) Relicord

h) Cord care

Stemade (Dental Stem Cell Banking in India)

GBIOFIN invites application for the Certificate Programme on stem cells and Regenerative Medicines (CSCRMR) which is a 3 months free of cost programme for awareness in stem cell researches and their wide scope for undergraduate and

post graduate students.

48 BIOTECH RINGS February - april 2014 BIOFINTM

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GBIOFIN journeyGBIOFIN: Gate to Biotechnology Industries, Organ-

isations and Foundations in India abbreviated as GBIOFIN. GBIOFIN is a well-known name today, known for its zest to bring forth converging ideas, innovations, inventions and intellect in the field of Biotechnology.

GBIOFIN Biotech Services is a registered organisation incubated and nurtured by three Biotechnology grad-uates, Asif Razzaq from Integral University, Lucknow; Nimish Gopal from IIT- Roorkee and Vaibhav Shah from Mumbai University; who met at B-Plan Competition in 2011. At the same moment the three bio-entrepre-neurs discussed the need for a common platform for the biotechnology sector in India, and thus, conceived the idea of GBIOFIN.

Entrepreneurship, as the concept itself describes, is setting up new ventures with the motto of making prof-its; but GBIOFIN stands in stark contrast to this, with the sole objective of building the base of biotechnol-ogy in India, rather than investing in new products and services; striving to spread Biotechnology Awareness non-profitably, rather than making profits.

A survey revealed a huge gap between the industry’s expectations and the students’ expectations due to lack of quality labour and expertise in the field. GBIOFIN has taken up the responsibility of bridging this gap by being the torch-bearers in helping and guiding bio-technology students through unique initiatives.

The GBIOFIN group envisions spreading biotechnolog-ical Awareness around the globe and aims to enlighten the lamps of biotechnology in the minds of young generation. For this goal, we have launched various programmes and products for biotechnology students either free of cost or nominal prices. Some of them are:

GATE 100, which is an online study material for all GATE aspirants and bringing them a step ahead from their competitors to crack one of India’s most prestigious exams.

GECP: GBIOFIN Entrepreneurship Certificate Programm was launched with the aim of help-ing students in converting their ideas into money.

Majority of the students have ideas in their college days but owing to lack of proper guidance, they are lost. GECP came into light with the motive to provide appropriate guidance and to encourage students to become entrepreneurs.

GEIC: GBIOFIN Entrepreneurship and Innovations Certificate is a 3-months online certification course for all aspiring Bioentrepreneurs. Through this pro-gramme we provide students with a platform to learn the nuances behind executing their entre-preneurship ideas and open new opportunities for themselves as well as others.

YBWA: Young Biotech Writers Award is our initia-tive to motivate students to write articles pertain-ing to the biotechnology field and the best articles are published in our National level magazine and acknowledged by a Certificate of Appreciation.

BiotechRings is another initiative to spread the light of Biotechnology that upholds the status of India’s First National Student oriented Biotechnology Magazine. BiotechRings, two editions old now, embodies in itself, a better understanding of the field and a plethora of new hopes and possibilities. With a central theme of Biopreneurship, e issue is a novel step toward success with new authors and different concepts.

BIO–EXTRACT: BioExtract is GBIOFIN’s Ambitious Project especially for B.Tech or B.E or B.Sc(Hons) Students from All India Colleges Pursuing Biotech/Life-Sciences streams and have started or com-pleted their Bachelor Thesis Project (During Final or Pre-Final Year) in any stream of Biotechnology. Top 5 Extracts/Project arefeatured in our National RNI Registered Magazine ‘BiotechRings’ Plus they are recognized with an award.

Resume Builder: GBIOFIN launched this unique programme of guiding Biotechnology students build their Resumes/Curriculum Vitae which would enhance their chances of getting placed for their dream job.

And the list goes on...

February - april 2014 BIOTECH RINGS 49BIOFINTM

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GBIOFIN journeyGBIOFIN is also credited to be instrumental in assist-ing students for placements, training and higher edu-cation. We have, now, a network of 20,000+ online/offline Biotech Students connected to our network, around 50 student partners working from various parts of the nation and a board of more than 15 exemplary advisors in the form of leading scientists, professors and industrialists, guiding us all through our journey to excellence.

Our group can also boast for 4 Ideas incubated from GEIC/GECP and excelled toward Business Plan creation and finally started up. We have, thus, become India’s 1st and largest start up for creating Biotech Awareness and spreading the spirit of Biopreneurship.

GBIOFIN has also been proud associates of many International and National Conferences such as Nanotech-AMU, BIOASIA-Hyderabad, NCBL-Lucknow, Pharma tool Box-Switzerland, Global Qatalyst-Singa-pore, and has also been sponsoring various BIOTECH Fests in colleges across India like IIT Roorkee-Cogni-zance, IIT Guwahati-Techniche, JIIT Noida-Ribose, Tilak College Mumbai-Anubhav, thus building the confidence among the Students even at the collegiate level.

With the mission to bring all the information related to Biotechnology under a single umbrella and provide a complete platform for the biotech community to excel in the field, we are constantly striving toward a better tomorrow.

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Asif Razzaq Nimish Gopal Vaibhav Shah

A Gbiofin initiative

RINGSBIO

TECH 1 year Subscription pack of 4 Copies at Rs.350only

1 issue of Rs 75 (including postal charges)

Name:____________________________________________________________________________

Company:__________________________________

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Nano Biotechnology and Cancer BRAI bill -

current trends

Bharat biotech launched new encephalitis vaccine

Biocon’s anti- psoriasis drug

Madhuri SharonIntervIew

ISSUE 02VOlUmE 01 AUGUST - OcTOBEr 2013

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ISSUE 01VOLUME 01 FEBRUARY - APRIL 2013

Biocon tie-up with Trinity

Google Map could pave way for new medical treatments

BiotecnologyINCUBATORS

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BIOTECH

Dr. Shailendra VyakarnamDirector - Centre for Entrepreneurial LearningUniversity of Cambridge Judge Business School

Dr. Snober Shabnam MirAssociate ProfessorDepartment Of BiotechnologyIntegral University Lucknow

Sanjit Singh LambaManaging Director,President-Global Brands Unit Head-Global Procurement Strate-gy, Eisai Knowledge Centre

Dr. Ashwani Mathur FacultyDepartment of Biotechnology Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (JIIT), Noida

Dr. Syed Asad RahmanResearch ScientistThornton groupEMBL-EBI

Dr. Asad U Khan Associate ProfessorMedical Microbiology and Molecular Biology lab,A.M.U, Aligarh

Dr. Firdos Alam KhanProfessor and ChairpersonDepartment of BiotechnologyManipal University, Dubai

Pradip M Patel Vice President & Head,Vaccine Manufacturing,Zydus Cadila, India

Dr. Md. Imtiyaz HassanAssistant Professor (Biophysics)Centre For Interdisciplinary Re-search In Basic Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Prof. G.S. RandhawaProfessorDepartment of BiotechnologyIIT-Roorkee

Dr. Sajid KhanAssociate ProfessorDepartment of BiotechnologyIntegral University Lucknow

Dr. Vivek VarmaJoint DirectorPremier Medical Corporation Company

Dr. Neeta Raj SharmaAssociate Dean School of Bio-technology & BiosciencesLovely Professional University, Phagwara

Prof. Ashwini Kumar SrivastavaProf & HeadDepartment of BiotechnologyIntegral University Lucknow

Dr. Partha RoyAssociate Professor Department of Biotechnolo-gy, IIT-Roorkee

Mr Ashish AgarwalManaging DirectorOnco LifeSciences Pvt Ltd

Dr. Pankaj SethProfessor & Scientist National Brain Research Centre (NBRC)

Dr. D. C. SainiScientist & Assistant DirectorBirbal Sahni Institute of Paleo-Botany

Dr. Pravindra KumarAssistant Professor Department of Biotechnolo-gy, IIT-Roorkee

Dr. Syed Khalid AliManagerClinical Research VaccinePanacea Biotech

Ms. Chanda Zaveri,Founder & DirectorActiogen and Skin Healix

Dr. Subha GangulyScientist- Dept of Fish Process-ing TechnologyWest Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences

Head & Professors

Industrialists

Other Advisors Scientists

advisors

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Website: www.biofin.net Blog: gbiofin.blogspot.com Contact: [email protected]

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