Experts discuss stem cell banking ethics, policies By Noimot OlayiwolaStaff Reporter Umbilical cord blood banking and transplantation, issues of ethics and policy as well as regulations governing stem cell banking were some of the high points of discussion during a session on â??Stem Cell Bankingâ?? at the Qatar International Conference on Stem Cells Science and Policy, underway at the Qatar National Convention Centre. Sharing the Saudi Arabia experience on umbilical cord blood transplantation during a presentation, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centreâ??s blood bank (transfusion & donor services) director and of the Stem Cell Cord Blood Bank at the department of pathology and laboratory medicine, Dr Hind al-Humaidan, noted that the transplantation of allogeneic (taken from different individuals of the same species) bone marrow has been successfully used in the treatment of high risk or recurrent hematologic malignancies, bone marrow failure syndromes, selected hereditary immunodeficiency states and metabolic disorders. â??Early in the history of bone marrow transplantation, it was clear that access to a suitable donor was a major obstacle severely limiting the use of this potentially curative treatment modality. Although using an HLA (human leukocyte antigen) sibling donor is the best choice for transplantation, not all patients could have access to such a donor. Therefore transplant centres explored the possibility of using volunteer adult unrelated donors as an alternative to HLAâ??matched siblings,â? she noted while mentioning that there was another alternative treatment strategy as a source of hematopoietic stem cell namely umbilical cord blood. She explained that in Saudi Arabia, 60% of patients who need a transplant will find an HLA-matched sibling donor, leaving 40% of the patients in need of alternative sources. The figure of donor with HLA-matched sibling elsewhere in the world is 45%, she said. â??The concept of establishing a cord blood bank in Saudi Arabia, under the umbrella of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, was raised after an increase in use of cord blood for transplantation due to the inability of finding fully or closely HLA-matched related donors. This non-profit public Cord Blood Bank is dedicated to making high quality cord blood units available to all patients in need of related and/or unrelated transplantation in Saudi Arabia and in the neighbouring countries through the development and maintenance of a centre of excellence for the collection, storage, search and distribution of ethnically and racially diverse cord blood units,â? she said. According to al-Humaidan, till date, the Cord Blood inventory consists of 3,725 units of high quality cord blood with a total of 70 cord blood transplants being carried out from the inventory. Virgin Health Bank (VHB) chief executive officer Dr Rajan Jethwa discussed ways to make a cord blood bank attractive to users and how to ensure sustenance, especially when government funding of such facilities stops. He described how VHB will become the magnet that will pull all stakeholders in the field of stem cell banking including researchers, technicians together towards achieving the establishment of a stem cell bank in Qatar. Wake Forest School of Medicineâ??s Internal Medicine and Institute for Regenative Medicine Social Sciences and Health Policy professor Nancy King highlighted some of the ethical and policy issues governing stem cell banking globally while Field Fisher Waterhouseâ??s Public and Regulatory Law Group head Sarah Ellson shared some tips on ensuring regulations of biosamples. University of Central Lancashireâ??s Dr Katrina Aisha Choog spoke on informed consent among Arab Muslim research participants. The session was chaired by Harvard Stem Cell Instituteâ??s executive director Brock Reeve.

See the rest here:
Experts discuss stem cell banking ethics, policies

Diverse approach to cancer research need of the hour, stresses professor Profoundly different approaches are needed for cancer research, the Qatar International Conference on Stem Cell Science and Policy 2012, has been told by an expert in cancer stem cell (CSC) biology. Professor Irving Weissman, director, Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, was delivering a keynote address on â??Normal and neoplastic stem cellsâ?? yesterday. â??Self-renewal is the principal property that distinguishes stem cells from their daughter cells,â? he said while explaining that when stem cells divide they give rise to stem cells (by self-renewal) and progenitors (by differentiation). The balance between self-renewal and differentiation is what generates, and then maintains, tissues enabling them to respond to injury or other stressors. Studies identifying hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) - which form blood and immune cells - and progenitors, have made hematopoiesis one of the best systems for studying the molecular changes in cell fate decision-making and creation of cancer. Further, it serves as a paradigm for finding preclinical and clinical platforms for tissue and organ replacement and regeneration. Stem cell isolation and transplantation is the basis for regenerative medicine. Self-renewal is dangerous and therefore strictly regulated. Poorly regulated self-renewal can lead to the genesis of CSC â?? the only cells within a tumour or leukaemia that have the ability to self renew, and therefore the cells that maintain the cancer. â??Thus, it is predicted that CSC elimination is required for cure. This prediction necessitates profoundly different approaches to cancer research, compelling investigators to prospectively isolate CSCs and to characterise the molecular pathways regulating their behaviour in order to identify targeted and truly effective therapies,â? Weissman added. A founder of three companies â?? SyStemix, Cellerant, and Stem Cells Inc â?? all focused on bringing stem cell therapies into the clinic, Weissman has authored more than 700 scientific articles and has been an editor of multiple scientific journals.

Read more here:
Diverse approach to cancer research need of the hour, stresses professor

A long-held belief about women and fertility is that each woman has a set amount of eggs in her lifetime and that when those eggs are depleted at menopause, so are her chances at having a biological child. However, research out of Massachusetts General Hospital is questioning that view. Using stem cells taken from human ovaries, scientists have produced early-stage eggs, which brings up all sorts of questions about possible new methods for treating infertility. Nicholas Wade, writing in The New York Times, adds, "The ability to isolate stem cells from which eggs could be cultivated would help not only with fertility but also with biologists' understanding of how drugs and nutrition affect the egg cells."
Jonathan Tilly, the director of Mass General's Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology and leader of the new research, had reported in 2004 that ovarian stem cells in mice could create new eggs "similar to how stem cells in male testes produce sperm throughout a man's life." His new study attempted to prove this with humans. Researchers took healthy ovaries from patients having sex reassignment surgery, and injected stem cells from the ovaries into human ovarian tissue grafted under the skin of mice: "Within two weeks, early stage human follicles with oocytes had formed." Ryan Flinn writes in Bloomberg Businessweek that this could potentially point at "new ways to aid fertility by delaying when the ovaries stop functioning."
Read the full story at The Atlantic Wire.

The rest is here:
Stem Cell Research Could Allow Women Post-Menopause Babies

SAN DIEGO, CA and PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwire -02/28/12)- Medistem Inc. (Pinksheets: MEDS.PK - News) announced today its Annual "Evening with Medistem" Event will take place in Portland, Oregon on March 7th, 2012. The event is being hosted by Vladimir Zaharchook, Vice Chairman at Medistem, Inc., and will feature stem cell luminaries and pioneers working with Medistem including Dr. Amit Patel, Director of Regenerative Medicine at University of Utah and the first person to administer stem cells into patients with heart failure, Dr. Michael Murphy, Vascular Surgeon at Indiana University and Principal Investigator for Medistem's FDA clinical trial in patients with risk of amputation, and Dr. Alan Lewis, former CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, advisory board member of Medistem.
In 2007 Medistem discovered an entirely new type of stem cell, the Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC). This cell has proven it is a "universal donor" and can be used to treat many more conditions compared to other types of stem cells. The company received FDA clearance to begin clinical trials in September of 2011 for critical limb ischemia, a condition that is associated with amputation. Medistem is also running a Phase II clinical trial for heart failure using the new stem cell. The ERC stem cell does not involve the highly controversial use of fetal tissue, can be produced very economically and administered to the patient in a very simple manner. Medistem is exploring ways to expand clinical trials of its stem cell into other diseases.
"Stem cells and regenerative medicine offer hope in clinical conditions in which hope previously did not exist," said Dr. Stanley Cohan, Head of Neurology at the St Vincent's Hospital, the largest center for treatment of multiple sclerosis in the Pacific Northwest, who will be attending the event. "We are honored in the Portland community to have this distinguished team of accomplished researchers and medical doctors convene here and discuss with us possible collaborations."
"As a long-time member of the Portland academic community, it is exciting to have companies such as Medistem to visit us and share their experiences 'from the trenches' of what it takes to push a cellular drug through the FDA," said Dr. Shoukrat Milipotiv, Associate Scientist in the Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences of ONPRC, Oregon Stem Cell Center and Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Molecular & Medical Genetics, and co-director of the ART/ESC core at the Center. He is an internationally recognized researcher in the area of stem cells.
"The Event is an annual celebration to honor our team and collaborators for the successes of the previous year, while at the same time educate the local business and medical community on the latest research on stem cells not just at Medistem but internationally," said Thomas Ichim, Ph.D Chief Executive Officer of Medistem Inc. "2012 is particularly exciting for us due to approvals for two clinical trials, and the initiation of patient treatments within this context."
About Medistem Inc.
Medistem Inc. is a biotechnology company developing technologies related to adult stem cell extraction, manipulation, and use for treating inflammatory and degenerative diseases. The company's lead product, the endometrial regenerative cell (ERC), is a "universal donor" stem cell being developed for critical limb ischemia and heart failure.
Cautionary Statement
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of our securities. This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information. Factors which may cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements are discussed in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Read the original here:
Stem Cell Pioneers Converge in Portland to Discuss and Celebrate a Revolutionary New Stem Cell Entering Human Clinical ...