Scientists growing live human heart through stem cell treatments

Science is full of miracles and it can never be predicted what new miracle it will bring in the next hour. One would be reading about a particular breakthrough and thinking hard whether it is possible and they would show up a new one. It is only due to expertise of researchers that has led to the end of several diseases that were considered fatal. Researchers these days are busy in growing live human hearts with adult stem cells in their labs. The scientists of the Minnesota University, America which have made this possible are hoping that these artificial hearts will start beating within few weeks. This stem cell research has given new hope to millions and billions of patients suffering from heart problems.

It is a huge step towards ‘grow-your-own’ heart. Their approach involves extraction of muscle cells from the donor organs leaving heart of connective tissue behind. The stem cells are then injected which multiply to form a structure. This converts into healthy heart cells. As per Dr. Doris Taylor, an expert of Minnesota University, there is so many obstructions that have to be dealt with while creating a new fully functional heart. Taylor further says that she is confident that one day it might be possible to grow a whole organ for transplantation through stem cell transplant. The patient who undergoes regular heart transplantation should take drugs to repress the immune system for the remaining life. It might increase the chances of kidney failure, diabetes and hypertension.

The organs grown in lab earlier are being generated using cells – immature ‘master cells’ of the body. They are those cells that are capable to turn into different tissue types. During the year of 2007, researchers got success by creating a human heart valve with stem cells extracted from bone marrow. Taylor and team have already successfully generated pig and rat hearts. However, these organs could not be transplanted into animals as they were not much strong. Later, the team used human hearts taken from the body of dead people. Cells were extracted from these dead hearts with a strong detergent leaving a collagen skeleton behind. The skeleton was termed as a ghost heart because of its scary appearance. The ghost heart was infused with stem cells of the patients followed by stem cells treatments with several chemicals.

The stem cells identified the organ structure and started multiplying forming muscles cells of heart. There are many hurdles that come in way during generation of a fully functional heart. Major is providing sufficient amount of oxygen through a complicated blood vessels network. Further researchers also have to make this sure that heart cells will beat in a normal way. The scientists are very happy with the research. They believe that no doubt it will take some time to make this fully functional but along with that it has also increased the chances of growing new organs for the transplantation of human being. Moreover, due to stem cells coming from own body of patients it further reduces the chances of rejection by the patient’s body. The study would definitely end the problem of cardiac patients resulting in reduction of death rate of the people dying from several heart problems.

3-D Experiments coming out with several uses of adult stem cells

Recently researchers have come to know about the higher flexibility of a type of adult cells. A type of adult cells has been found to have higher versatility by the use of 3D experiments. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are one such type of the adult stem cells that have proved that these can be used in many researches and stem cell therapy. Dr. Paul Genever of York University participated in the annual science meet of National Stem Cell Network in London. He told about his work to grow MSCs under lab conditions that are mainly used during this therapy. It is because these cells have high potential to form a wide range of different cells that might be early precursors or muscle cells of heart.

As it is a well recognized fact the adult cells have already shown a great hope and proved to be highly significant for the repair of damaged cartilage structure and bone. These are most commonly found in the bone marrow, blood and other tissues in the body of adults or children. It is being predicted that the research will help to create a 3D environment which is generally occupied by the stem cells in the body of a human being. It will help to generate the exact conditions as in the human body so as to influence MSCs for the generation of different cell types. It is another fact that till now they have been found to be limited in the cell types they were capable to form under laboratory.

As per Genever, he has grown these cells in 2D layers under laboratory conditions. These were showing high ability to form fat, cartilage structure or bones. The uses of adult stem cells grown this way were many but they were limited to only these three cell types. Now with the aid of 3D technique it is possible to provide exact level of nutrients, mechanical forces and oxygen level which are present in a human body. The use of 3D layer instead of 2D increases their chances to develop into more number of different cell types. They indentify their roles swiftly and complete it effectively. This reflects their versatile nature. The MSCs are tiny spheres that measure just about 200-300mm across. It is just half the size of a tiny dust particle.

It is possible that one can observe the impacts of interactions within these small spheres. The interaction would be between number of cells or between these cells and several other supporting structures. The mesenchymal stem cells can be linked to other cells types. The most commonly used cell types are endothelial cells. These endothelial cells are found on the blood vessel surface. Professor Douglas Kell who is CE of BBSRC said that benefits of stem cells are widely known. They are useful for regular development of the body and its repair. This research will surely help to know about the exact environment that stem cells go through under regular body conditions of human beings and animals. Thanks to the 3D experiments that have made this wonderful research possible. It is a critical study in the fight against many severe diseases.

What is the need and right age to store menstrual blood stem cells for a woman?

It has been proved that stem cells have the potential to heal several diseases due to their ability to grow into several types of cells. Few months back scientists were involved in the study of role played by stem cells extracted from menstrual blood storage. After large number of studies done in this area, now it has been proved that the stem cells obtained from the menstrual blood have high potential to cure several diseases just like the stem cells obtained from other sources. These cells reflect some features and properties similar to embryonic cells and bone marrow stem cells. This study has its significance because stem cell extraction methods have gained a lot of controversies earlier.

This collection method of these cells from menstrual blood is safe and renewable. Now the question arises what should be the right age for the menstrual blood banking. Experts recommend that younger woman have more healthy stem cells which is the perfect time for it . The stem cells found in blood released during menstrual cycle are mesenchymal types. These grow into other types of cells such as cartilage, bone, fat, skeletal muscle cells and many more. As these cells can grow at a rapid rate for long duration, it is easy to obtain their large population within short span of time and small cell population.

As the cycle repeats itself every month, the lining of uterus which is called as endometrium is shed with the extra tissues and waste blood. There are present mesenchymal stem cells in this uterine lining having greater growth capacity as compared to regular stem cells. Further, with the development of new and advanced tools and procedures it has become far easier to obtain large number of these stem cells. These cells are purified and hence hold high value in stem cell treatments against several fatal diseases. Nowadays the stem cells obtained from menstrual blood are in use for hundreds of medical trials performed in the clinics. Many among these clinical trials are being used for business purpose by the Food and Drug Administration of America.

Prior to this study, menstrual blood that was earlier discarded, all of a sudden has gained high attention of all scientists due to presence of self-renewable stem cells. It is being anticipated that these cells can surely be used to heal several diseases in future. They are diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, Atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and many more. One of the most advantageous factors is less immune rejection in females. This implies that as stem cells would be taken from women’s body and therefore they will not reject the body. This way these cells can be used during their personal therapy.

All the scientists around the world are encouraging women to store menstrual blood and donate it. The growth of these cells is controlled by the use of some standard drugs. They do not cause any toxic effect or health hazard leading into death of patients. As compared to bone marrow extraction, this method is completely painless due to no use of any invasive technique. This way they are easily tolerable by the patients and safe to use.

The stem cells international society establishes new record of 750 cases of adult stem cells patients

The International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS) has recently achieved new milestone. ICMS has reached the target of 750 patients who have been provided stem cell treatments till now. ICMS is a nonprofit organization that is working for the safety of people. The society facilitates the education of doctors and provides an insight about the peer group. It has proved to be a critical step in the field of cell based medicine. Ricardo Rodriguez who is a director of ICMS, MD and co-chairperson of medical advisory board says that ICMS is based on the foundation of the safety of its patients.

The stem cells international society offers some of the finest practices and recognised clinics. Now ICMS has added one more chapter in its success story through increased number of patients. This way ICMS has come to establish itself as one of the premier organization. It is providing advanced treatments that are followed by the best care to each and every patient. Further, only those clinics that fulfill the minimum standards of the ICMS and are under review by board of institutional review are provided access to participate in treatment registry.

The treatment registry of ICMS is basically a completely secure and online data collection system that maintains track of the patients who have successfully operated through adult stem cells. After the treatment all the patients are surveyed either through surveys or interviews. It includes the interval of three, six and twelve months and even two, three, four, five, ten and twenty years. They are interviewed to determine the success rate and complications that might come into light during that time. However, this therapy has been found to report complication rate less than two percent and these do not show any severe cases.

The ICMS executive director, David Audley says that having such a significant record of patients successfully operated with negligible complication rate is an evidence of huge safety concern by the ICMS professionals. International Cellular Medicine Society has huge collection of data. The firm is determined to maintain the privacy of the patients and keep treatment procedures confidential. The data which has been recorded in the registry covers procedures of collection of cells and administration and even specific outcomes of this treatment. They are kept secure and can be accessed by only some selected clinics, patients and reviewers by ICMS.

All the reviewers are responsible for assessment of the registry data for the evaluation of the outcomes of audit patients and protocols. They have to follow strict norms and secret agreements that are kept confidential. ICMS does not publish the results gained from individual clinics. On the other hand, it publishes all the findings of some crucial stem cell research study or complaints. Cellular Medicine Society believes that the number of patients will further increase with the recently launched accredited program of stem cell clinic. With more and more clinics expanding their operations in stem cell technology and its treatments ICMS will expand further being one of the most trusted and self-regulating firms.