Cord blood has opened a new gateway in the field of alternative medicine.  Even though the concept of cord blood has been around since 1983, the first ever successful cord blood transplant was conducted on a six year old boy, who was suffering from Fanconi’s Anemia in 1983. Since then umbilical cord blood has been used in numerous therapies and transplants successfully.

Cord blood banking is a process of collecting stem cells in which umbilical cord blood is clamped and cut after a baby is born. These stem cells are adaptable cells that have the ability to regenerate and regrow. For this quality, these stem cells are used in treating more than 80 diseases and disorders now. There are two types of cord blood banking: Private and Public.

In private cord blood banking, you can store your baby’s store blood by investing a small amount of money. In exchange, you would retain the sole ownership of the stem cells, derived from the cord blood. This is the reason that more and more parents are opting for private cord blood banking, so they can use the stem cells any time in the future. On the contrary, you donate your cord blood in a public cord blood bank. Once donated, you cannot claim it in the future. Stem cells stored in public cord blood banks are used primarily in researchers and medical studies.

Once you save your baby’s cord blood, the stem cells can be used to treat any member of the close family circuit. For example, if you save your younger child’s cord blood, the stem cells can be transplanted to your elder child. They can also be used to treat any disease or disorder in you or your partner.

And the amazing part is, there is no need to match the cells before the transplant unlike bone marrow transplants. In bone marrow transplants, doctors need to go for graft vs. host disease (GVHD) matching, just to ensure safety and stability of the transplant. With cord blood stem cells, doctors can do away with GVHD matching. Since umbilical cord blood stem cells are inborn in nature, they are adaptive to any circumstances. Therefore the chances of rejection are also minimal to zero.

Now let’s take a look at the diseases and disorders that can be treated with cord blood stem cells.

Researchers have proved that cord blood stem cells can treat many types of cancer such as lymphoma, leukemia, and autoimmune. Apart from that these stem cells are extremely useful in treating the aftereffects of stroke, diabetes, and spinal cord injuries. Disorders like autism, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are also treated with cord blood stem cells. Patients treated with the stem cells have shown immense improvement in the first 6 months.

So, once you save your child’s umbilical cord blood with a private cord blood bank, you can not only safeguard your child’s future, but also protect your family. Even though there is a fee attached, but for a safer and worry-free future, it’s totally worth it.

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Stanford University School of Medicine researchers invented a new algorithm, Baxter Algorithm, to track adult stem cell development more accurately. The main idea was to overcome the difficulties in treating muscle related problems that eventually lead to aging.

According to the research, growing stem cells in the muscle, especially on the developed synthetic matrix, try to copy the elasticity of real muscle, thereby allowing them to retain their auto-renewing agents. Adult stem cells are already present in our body. They play a significant role in forming body tissues in muscles, blood and neurons. So far scientists struggled to create the stem cells in adequate quantity, needed for cell differentiation. Moreover, the stem cells lose some of their qualities immediately after they are kept in a culture dish. One of the qualities is self-renewal. It’s the ability to turn into another stem cell and at the same time the differentiating daughter cell.

This new technique would not only overcome the issue, but it would also help in revolutionizing the application of stem cells in different procedures.  Helen Blau, a researcher at the Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine explained, “Cells don’t normally exist in contact with a rigid cell culture dish. They sit on soft tissue. By mimicking this environment we can really influence their function and allow them to self-renew in ways we’ve never been able to achieve before.”

The researchers have developed a new culture system in order to create a more comfortable and softer environment for the stem cells to grow. They used a material, called hydrogel, made of a platform of polyethylene glycol polymers with water. Once they decreased the quantity of polymer molecules, it was turned into a more flexible and more elastic surface.

The researchers let the stem cells grow in the hydrogel for a week. After a week, they found that the softer cells had more cells compared to the less-elastic gels. The scientists had then used the new algorithm to track the cell development automatically. They have found that the cells are not dividing faster. Rather more cells remain alive in the culture dish.

Blau said, “This in itself is a huge advance. Until now it’s been pretty impossible to do these studies without spending half a year or more manually scoring pictures or movies of cells in culture. Now we can figure out exactly how the cells divide and move, who begets who. As a result, we can begin to study all types of variables,” she added, “Clearly the cells grown on the more-elastic surfaces have better survival and self-renewing properties than those grown on standard tissue culture dishes. We conducted our experiments with muscle stem cells, but I expect this will be true for other types of adult stem cells as well.”

Apart from the new algorithm, the researchers continue their work to find out how this advancement would help in stem cells therapies to treat muscle-related problems like muscular dystrophy. Blau said, “Researchers really had no way to grow these cells in the laboratory before. These findings may allow us one day to replenish the muscles of patients with muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting diseases with healthy stem cells.”

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Umbilical cord blood plays a potent role in treating life-threatening ailments like sickle cell anaemia, lymphoma, leukaemia and the like. Today, over 25,000 patients round the globe have had cord blood transplants since their parents had a long-term vision that made them donate the child’s umbilical cord blood to a prominent cord blood bank.

In fact, most ace doctors and health experts suggest that cord blood must be preserved until there’s need of it. Medical science presently believes that cord blood can be preserved for an indefinite time, so that it can be of use for several generations. Stem cell transplants having 40 years as the average age, the longer the cord tissue and cord blood is stored, the maximum will be its use. And this where the accreditation process ties in!

Who Manages the Cord Blood Banking Facilities?

Simply put, the cord blood banks get regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is essential for all cord blood banks to register their name with the FDA and welcome the recurrent inspections and adhere to the regulations listed by this body. Furthermore, there are several other cord blood banks, comprising of the Core 23 BioBank, that willingly place themselves for other additional regulation under reputed accrediting bodies such as FACT and AABB.

Recently, AABB accreditation is considered to be the standard or key to cord blood transplant globally, where about 70% of the AABB accredited cord blood banks are located outside of U.S. As an authorized and authentic accrediting organization for cellular therapies and transfusion medicine round the word, the AABB gives a patient ear to the stories from various members of blood banks, hospitals and other bodies. Listening, it is said is a vital aspect of AABB’s accreditation process and programme.

As a group of AABB assessor approach an organization, basic checklists aren’t what they depend on! On the other hand, their key responsibility is to enquire, observe, gather data, build connections and provide a direct feedback on the organization’s accomplishments in catering to AABB’s technical and quality management par. Other than the formal reviewing process, there’s a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing process that takes place along with other discussions related to the best practices. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the accreditation programme of AABB is accredited by International Society for Quality in Healthcare, a notable global organization that oversees and accredits accrediting bodies.

In fact, back in 2016 it a Dubai based AABB accredited cord blood bank successfully delivered a life-saving treatment of a 7-year-old boy, by providing stem cells that has been obtained from the umbilical cord blood that was saved 3 years before the birth of his sibling. This 7-year-old boy, who’s the elder brother, was diagnosed with major beta thalassemia, which is a blood disorder that might require daily blood transfusions and in a lifetime, can branch out into other various serious health hazards and ailments.

There are several reasons why AABB accreditation is considered the best practice for cord blood transplant. This accreditation programme makes use of a risk-solving approach that needs a meticulous evaluation by an AABB assessor to be on-site, examining the facility’s policies, processes and procedure to discover any possible marks of non-conformity. At the time of this accreditation process, the institutions gain from customized help rendered by a technical specialist at the AABB’s accreditation department. It is this specialist who in turn guides and assists the institutions and its team members on the accreditation process, giving answers to required queries and authenticating procedure followed and documents maintained. The verification process is strict, so that cord blood transplant taking place from the cord blood bank poses no health hazards and other discomforts.

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Many athletes take painkillers regularly after intense workout sessions. The reason being, any muscle injury, inflammation, soreness, stiffness and aches can be handled with these medicines. But a new study suggests that these anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs often harm the muscles rather than doing any good. A Stanford Medicine study supports this view and proposes a new study, based on the inflammatory component to treat muscle degeneration with muscle stem cells.

The stem cells in muscles are scattered across the skeletal muscle tissue. They remain inactive until they are divided by stimulation. When our muscles go through an injury or damage, an inflammatory component activates these muscle stem cells, so they start regenerating the tissue.

The team at Stanford suggests that a molecule, Prostaglandin E2 or PGE2, gets released when the muscle sends the inflammatory signal. This component stimulates the repairing process by aiming at the EP4 receptor, located on the surface of muscle stem cells. The muscle stem cells division is caused by the interaction between PGE2 and EP4, which leads to muscle tissue regeneration.

Dr. Helen Blau, the senior author of the study, said, “Traditionally, inflammation has been considered a natural, but sometimes harmful, response to injury. But we wondered whether there might be a component in the pro-inflammatory signaling cascade that also stimulated muscle repair. We found that a single exposure to prostaglandin E2 has a profound effect on the proliferation of muscle stem cells in living animals. We postulated that we could enhance muscle regeneration by simply augmenting this natural physiological process in existing stem cells already located along the muscle fiber.”

They have conducted a study on a mice model and it reveals that the PGE2 is increased by injuries and that in turn increases the expression of the EP4 receptor. This incident leads the team to the idea of treating the mice with PGE2 pulse, so they can stimulate the muscle stem cells to repair the damage.

Dr. Adelaida Palla, the co-first author explained, “When we gave mice a single shot of PGE2 directly to the muscle, it robustly affected muscle regeneration and even increased strength. Conversely, if we inhibited the ability of the muscle stem cells to respond to naturally produced PGE2 by blocking the expression of EP4 or by giving them a single dose of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to suppress PGE2 production, the acquisition of strength was impeded.”

The research clearly shows that painkillers can make the situation worse. Additionally, it also suggests that the molecule; PGE2 can be the natural element to enhance muscle regeneration. Dr. Blau is hopeful that future studies will show more encouraging results with PGE2.  “Our goal has always been to find regulators of human muscle stem cells that can be useful in regenerative medicine. It might be possible to repurpose this already FDA-approved drug for use in muscle. This could be a novel way to target existing stem cells in their native environment to help people with muscle injury or trauma, or even to combat natural aging,” added Dr. Blau.

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Meet Alysson Muotri, an autism researcher and a professor at UC San Diego. His research mostly revolves around autism and how stem cell therapy impacts the brain development. His study is based on pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), collected from people with autism. The researchers in his team are using the stem cells to model the condition in a lab dish. His team is trying to point out the affected cells and at the same time, invent a potential drug to cure the disorder.

When asked about his research about autism, Dr. Muotri expressed his frustration about no available models to understand the disorder at the first place. His team is involved in making a mini brain, because he thinks less accessibility to the human brain is the main reason that there is no proper tool or model to treat autism.

He said, “As a neuroscientist studying autism, I was frustrated with the lack of a good experimental model to understand autism. All the previous models (animal, postmortem brain tissues, etc.) have serious experimental limitations. The inaccessibility of the human brain has blocked the progress of research on ASD for a long time. Cellular reprogramming allows us to transform easy-access cell types (such as skin, blood, dental pulp, etc.) into brain cells or even “mini-brains” in the lab.”

He also briefed about how this process works. As they will be able to capture the genome of the affected person, it will be easy for them to track early phases of his/her neurodevelopment. He elaborately explained the process, as he said, “This is crucial to study neurodevelopment disorders, such as ASD, because of the strong genetic factor underlying the pathology [the cause of a disease]. By comparing “mini-brains” between an ASD and neurotypical [non-ASD] groups, we can find anatomical and functional differences that might explain the clinical symptoms.”
While talking about his model, he mentioned that his team mainly uses genome editing techniques and reprogramming stem cells. The reprogramming stem cells are used to create organoids or mini brains. And the genome editing techniques help in generating 3D organoid models. These organoids grow into the mature brains in the lab. The process is quite similar to that of fetal brain, so the researchers can track the structure and development over time.

About this new model, he said, “This new model brings something novel to the table: the ability to experimentally test specific hypotheses in a human background. For example, we can ask if a specific genetic variant is causal for an autistic individual. Thus, we can edit the genome of that autistic individual, fixing target mutations in these mini-brains and check if now the fixed mini-brains will develop any abnormalities seen in ASD.”

He is, currently, running a clinical trial involving IGF-1, or insulin growth factor-1. He is very hopeful that a drug will soon be discovered to treat autism. He said, “I am a big enthusiastic fan of personalized treatments for ASD. While we continue to search for a treatment that could help a large fraction of ASD people, we also recognized that some cases might be easier than others depending on their genetic profile.”

With that, he assures that his team is also working on a tool to diagnosis autism. This would certainly help parents and doctors to initiate treatments and therapies at an early stage, even before the symptoms start to appear.

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Comeback stories are inspiring. They give us hope for the future. This story is about Dream Alliance, a horse whose comeback story to recover from Achilles tendon injuries will offer hope for many. Wondering why this is a big story? Read on.

The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in our body that connects the calf muscle with the heel bone. The Achilles tendon goes through a lot when we run or jump or lead an active life. This is the reason that many athletes and players suffer from Achilles tendon injuries. However what makes it worse is, almost 25 to 45% of these injuries need surgery and the patients’ lives largely depend on the crutches.

Dream Alliance went through an Achilles tendon injury while running in a race in 2008. He cut a tendon in the front leg. His condition was so critical that he was almost considered to be euthanized. But a stem cell treatment helped him recover from his injury and at the same time get back on his career. The process was very simple. Bone marrow was collected from the hip of the horse and mesenchymal stem cells were isolated. The mesenchymal stem cells were moved to a petri dish in order to create millions of cells. Once the required amount of cells were produced, they were injected into the affected tendon directly.

The procedure conducted by the researchers at the University College of London and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital proved successful for the horses. Now the team is conducting a stem cell clinical trial to treat Achilles tendon injuries in humans. Andrew Goldberg, the team lead of the study explained, “Tendon injuries in horses are identical to those in humans, and using this evidence from the 1500 treated horses] we were able to persuade the regulators to allow us to launch a small safety study in humans.”

So far the trial involving humans is going well and is showing positive results. One of the patients, who was suffering from Achilles tendon injury said, “I worried, because no one had ever had it before, except a horse. But I was more worried I’d end up in a wheelchair. The difference now is amazing. I can do five miles on the treadmill without pain, and take my dog Honey on long walks again.” The 46-year old used to lead a very busy life until she started feeling a severe ankle pain, as a result of an Achilles tendon injury.

The team at the University College of London and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital is still unsure on how this therapy works to heal the tendon injury; however, they have used the mesenchymal stem cells, which have the regeneration ability. They are also known to reduce inflammation. The first case’s being successful is very motivating. Researchers are hopeful that they will be able to find out a definite cure for Achilles tendon injuries for humans. For an effective result, researchers need a large number of patients, so that they can gather the varied data in one single study.

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What if we told you that you could view transparent human cells? The Allen Institute for Cell Science researchers have invented a new data imaging technique in order to see the inside of stem cells. The images are not animation of cells, rather based on the insights derived from high quality photomicrographs with 6,000 induced pluripotent stem cells or IPS cells. All these stem cells are collected from human skin. The team fondly calls the technology as Allen Cell Explorer.

The process involved the IPS cells undergoing a gene editing, so the fluorescent markers could be attached to form 11 types of different structures. The idea was to know the inner machinery of our cell system. Followed by this, the researchers applied a deep analyzing computational method to document the entire structure of each stem cell, as viewed from the 3D maps.

Rick Horwitz, The executive director of the Allen Institute for Cell Science said, “This is the first time researchers have used deep learning to try and understand the elusive question of how actual cells are organized. The cartoons we rely on in textbooks, which are based on an artist’s interpretation of data from a relatively small number of cells, will eventually be replaced by data-driven models of this kind from very large numbers of cells.”Molly Maleckar, the director of modeling shared the complexity of this system, as she mentioned, “We’re actually having brainstorming sessions to see what else can we do with this data.”

The tool will prove a path breaking discovery in the history of medical science, as predicted by the scientists, as they can now see the changes the cells go through after receiving various drugs. Susanne Rafelski, the director of assay development said, “The idea that we can build a cell, and think of the cell as a whole, and see how that cell changes as it grows, divides, differentiates or gets sick – to me, it’s really a new frontier in thinking about cells and the cellular basis of disease.”

In other words, cell functions like mitochondria, microtubules and cell-to-cell junctions are the challenges that scientists wanted to address with this invention. Maleckar remarked, “There’s this assumption outside the world of cell biology that people must know where everything is. … That’s actually not true.”

The tool is often compared to the city maps that show all the highways, power plants, toll booths inside a city. Apart from the Allen Cell Explorer, there is a 3D Cell viewer that highlights 3D visualization of stem cells. There is also a cell catalog that shows all the required information about the gene-edited stem cell lines, offered by the institute. Any researcher can order the tools and the cell lines through a non-profit AddGene repository, run by the Allen Institute for Cell Science.

The team aims at a concrete visualization of stem cells as they are modified into different types of cells. Rafelski said, “It’s astounding that we get to do this, that we get to do science and then share science as beautifully as possible”, while Maleckar added, “I would absolutely agree. Science altruism: It really works.”

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We all know that autism cannot be cured. But Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development researchers have found a way to alleviate the symptoms of autism, thereby offering a better life for children with the condition. And the key to this therapy lies within their own umbilical cord blood stem cells.

The researchers at the Duke conducted a study to find out if the symptoms of autism can be lowered down in degree by infusing blood, derived from their own umbilical cord. They have published their findings in April 2017 and since then it has all the media attention.

The trial involved 25 children between 2 and 6. Geraldine Dawson, director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development confirmed that all the children have displayed improvement in terms of the autistic symptoms. Dawson mentioned, “We measured the children’s social and communication abilities using various tests and parent questionnaires. We found that the infusion was safe and many children showed improvements in their social and language skills.”¹

In this study, the children received stem cells from their own umbilical cord blood. After the infusion, their improvements were being monitored thoroughly. The doctors found that the infusion was completely safe for the children. After one year, these children were called for another round of tests in order to measure their further improvements.

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, the professor in the department of pediatrics, said that the process is entirely new to them. Dawson said that the study is still at its nascent stage, as they don’t have any standard comparison factor to compare the effectiveness of the therapy for autism, as there was no control group of autistic children involved in the study to compare the results. Dawson added, “Because there was no comparison group in this study, we don’t yet know whether the improvements we observed were because of the cord blood. As much as we’re hopeful that this is helping, we don’t want to prematurely make claims that haven’t been confirmed.”²

After the successful Phase I, the team is ready to start with Phase II trial, which is expected to be completed in two years. Unlike the Phase I, the second Phase will include a blind control group, where children will get a placebo infusion. Moreover, the Phase II will involve 165 children with autism.

Dawson said that the children will be divided into two groups. One group will receive umbilical cord blood stem cells and another group will receive a placebo. The groups will be switched after six months and the children will receive the opposite therapy. This will enable to researchers to find out the effectiveness of stem cell therapy for autism. Kurtzberg added, “There is a remodeling of certain abnormal brain connections [by the microglia], which then results in decreasing symptoms of autism.”³

Though the first trial showed immense improvements in the children, the team is still hesitant to call it a full-proof therapy for treating autism symptoms.  They will be able to answer all the unanswered questions after the comparative Phase II. Kurtzberg added, “At the conclusion of [the Phase II] study, we’ll be able to answer the question about whether cells are effective.”⁴ 

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What is autism? What makes autistic people different from others? What causes autism? There are hundreds of questions in people’s mind when it comes to this condition. What is it actually?

Autism is a mental condition that remains present from the early childhood days and lasts for a lifetime. It’s characterized by minor to major difficulties in social interaction and framing language abstract concepts. And the critical part is, it’s incurable. However, a new study shows that stem cell therapy may show great improvement in children with autism.

It’s the story of Gracie Gregory, one of the 25 autistic children who participated in the study at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina involving stem cells to tone down the issues associated with autism. The idea behind the research was to find out if a transfusion of the self-umbilical cord blood with the rare stem cells can cure autism or at least reduce the severity.

Gracie was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. When Gracie’s mother first came to know about the research, she immediately enrolled her without knowing what to expect and what not to expect. Such was the difficulty; they were facing with their autistic child. There was a time when Gracie’s sister, Ryleigh was afraid of her because of her unmanageable behavior like hitting and kicking. But now that very Ryleigh thinks Gracie is “very sweet and kind.” And it only became possible after the stem cell therapy.

Gracie was on the mild to moderate scale of autism. During the trial, Gracie, then 5, started with the same symptoms like kicking, spitting, screaming and even hitting her therapists. It was almost impossible to make her sit at one place.

The results were beyond what Gracie’s parents were expecting! Her parents recollects how difficult their life was back then when managing her would take 75% of their daily life and now after the therapy she only consumes 10% of their daily time. When asked about rating her improvement on a scale of 1 to 10, her parents proudly rated 8/9.

She now attends regular school, plays with her sister, and enjoys life to the fullest, something that her parent would never have thought of.

According to her father, “We will say we don’t think it’s cured her. You still see some of the small idiosyncrasies that she does have. But again, I think it’s supercharged her learning curve. It’s pushed her to do things she normally wouldn’t do.” Her mother added, “She got better, and we’re just thankful for that — whether it be the stem cells or not. We’re just thankful for what changes have happened”.

Two thirds of the children, involved in the study showed great improvement. This is the results of the first phase of the study and a broader second level trail is on its way, which promises a long-term treatment for autistic children.

Skeptics are still saying that no matter what autism cannot be cured and there are quite a few unanswered questions that need to be addressed before going gaga over it. Even researchers at Duke acknowledge that the study is at a very early stage and still there is a long way to go. But for families like Gregorys, it’s a life-changing experience.

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy or DMD is a serious genetic disorder that affects hundreds of children every year. This disorder leads to conditions like atrophy and muscle weakness. There is no cure for the disease, however, supportive care can be offered to take care of their lungs and heart but these arrangements can only extend their lives till 27.

Now what causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy so dangerous for children? Kids, suffering from DMD cannot produce dystrophin, a protein that helps to keep away the muscles from breaking. The main reason is, these people have gone through a mutation in their gene in the X chromosome, which is responsible for providing the blueprint for dystrophin. The genetic mutation may lead to a more critical situation where most parts of the dystrophin get affected and a result the body stops producing the protein completely.

For some people with DMD, there are so many errors in the gene that the body cancels out the affected protein the moment it’s created. However, what’s more interesting to see is, the researchers have concentrated on the genes that are completely flawed and that interrupt in reading blueprint to produce dystrophin.

In order to address the criticalness of this condition, researches have conducted a study on a mice model. Multiple groups of researchers have harnessed the technique of applying gene editing enzyme complex CRISPR in order to modify the genes of mice with DMD. The technique allows cutting the errors in the genetic code, so that their effects can simply be avoided. After that the body starts to read the gene and then produce a shorter version of the protein that manages to protect the muscles from breaking down so easily, much like the process to treat patients with Becker muscular dystrophy.

The process involves loading the CRISPR complex into a virus and then injecting it to the mice fetus with DMD. The researchers have found that the mice began to create the shortened protein once the virus is injected into them. This helped the mice to resume the power of their muscles, which gradually led to a concrete treatment of their disease. So, the research was quite successful on the mice model.

The findings have generated a thin window of hope for the people, suffering with Duchenne muscular dystrophy mutation as well. But the process was easier for mice, and the researchers know that it’s not going to be the same easy game for humans. Moreover, no matter how foolproof the technique is proved for the mice, it may not deliver the same results on humans.

The scientists have established that the CRISPR can cut away additions to the gene but it will still take some time to show if it can address other kinds of mutations at all. Researchers are also not sure about the reactions of CRISPR complex in humans. Chances are that they might get rejected by the human immune system altogether. If it does not prove to be a 100% fix to the disorder, it means that the technique will not be able to treat all patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy mutation.

However, having said all these, it’s also true that this research is the first ever experiment to have shown success, even if on a mice model. And researchers are hopeful that with more clinical trials, they might achieve the desired results soon.

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Researchers were wondering from ages as to what could be the actual cause of Huntington’s disease which causes involuntary jerky body movements disabling the victim to exhibit physical and mental coordination. The awkward bodily momentum gradually worsens after the initial unsteady gait putting the victim in jeopardy. Parental inheritance being the focal reason, this disease is hard to prevent and has been affecting millions of people globally without a documented cure. However, the available treatments reduce the severity of the symptoms and aid the victim in lessening the care giving requirements.

To enhance the quality of life of the global populace affected with Huntington’s disease, researchers are looking forward to get core advancement in finding an explicit medical solution. However, the extensive research to find the root cause of Huntington’s disease has enabled the researchers to get a key which can be a potential advancement in finding a generic solution to lessen the severity of the ailment. It is established that a mutant of the Huntington (mHTT) protein is the fundamental cause of the disease though the researchers are still unclear as to how it disturbs the brain cells’ function. As per the established findings of late, mHTT vitiates the cellular transport process adding to the neurotoxicity eventually resulting in loss of neurons.

Caused by an extended CAG repeat in the Huntington (HTT) gene, this neurodegenerative disease with mHTT plays pivotal role in disrupting the transport system of a cell which normally requires mobilizing multiple elements from its nucleus to the other parts and vice-versa. It has been pragmatically realized that mHTT creates aggregates in the central operations area that is in the nucleus preventing it from passing through the nuclear pores.  This pile up in the mHTT following the stagnation in the nuclear passages kills the brain cells by shutting them down.

The new fact discovered can drive the researchers to find out new ways to fix the cellular traffic jams there by aiding the process of finding new treatment methodologies for the Huntington’s disease. Although it is a fact that this step towards an advanced research in finding the cause for the disease is in the initial stage, the researchers are excited with their discovery as these findings are the stepping stones in conquering the Huntington’s disease along with encouraging the search for new therapeutic modules.

Biotech companies and pharmacy companies are looking forward to dwell on this very concept to capitalize it and bring into existence various therapies for biological processes. Hope they get abundant clues to prove the fact that early birds get quick worms in the course of their research. Ultimately, it is the millions of people who are affected with the Huntington’s disease who get the best of the research.

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Aging is a natural process that no one can deny. But how about a treatment that will not only keep your muscles flexible during the normal aging process, but also treat various muscle wasting diseases? Well, this is no more a mere concept. The Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that stem cells, present in the muscle tissues, can prevent tissue scarring, clinically termed as fibrosis.

Thomas Rando, who lead the study, said, “Fibrosis occurs in many degenerative diseases and also in normal aging,” he added, “It negatively impacts muscle regeneration by altering the stem cell niche and inhibiting the stem cell function. In addition, as more scarring occurs, muscles become stiff and can’t contract and relax smoothly.”

The team tried to understand how normal muscle tissues regenerate under usual circumstances and at the same time how they respond to injuries. During the research, they concentrated on fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs), the stem cells that reside in the muscle and build the desired connective tissue structure to support muscle regeneration.

The findings of the research are quite amazing. Not only had they discovered that the stem cells in the muscle have the ability to respond to aging, injuries or diseases, but also they can prevent fibrosis.

The scientists studied PDGFR alpha (PDGFRa), a protein found on the surface of FAPs.  The structure and function of the PDGFRa protein is quite intriguing. It straddles the cell membrane. The outer part of the protein functions as a landing area for any external factors that encourage the FAP cells to divide. The inner portion helps to pass on the external signal inside. If the response is somehow over-enthusiastic, it may lead to fibrosis. So, a balanced response on the stem cell’s part is required for an optimum result.

The study showed that the muscle-embedded stem cells can police themselves to get the optimum response. Rando pointed out, “We’ve found that the cells actively regulate the production of the inhibitory form of the protein, which is very surprising. If they make less, the degree of fibrosis increases; if they make more, it decreases.”

The normal version of PDGFRa protein instructs the FAPs to divide and grow, which is ideal if FAPs try to repair any tissue damage. However, excessive growth may lead to fibrosis. In order to avoid it, FAPs build a truncated version of PDGFRa protein that orders the cells to prevent tissue scarring by restricting any further division.

The research team figured out that the stem cells create a shortened version of the protein, which is not there in the interior portion. The shortened version of the protein hides the external growth signals away from the larger version of the protein. The cells grow the ability to create the shortened form of the protein by identifying and implementing a series of nucleotides. The nucleotide code then instructs the cell’s messenger RNA to set up a shorter signal. Consequently, the protein gets truncated.

The researchers forced the FAPs to build the shortened version of the protein in a mouse model. Followed by the process, both young and old mice showed less scarring. The team is soon to test this approach for muscle wasting diseases like muscular dystrophy in a similar mouse model. We will certainly keep you updated on the findings. Stay tuned!

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Japanese reproductive biologist, Katsuhiko Hayashi at the Kyushu University in Fukuoka, headed the research that published its findings in the journal known as ‘Nature’ on how they had been able to produce mouse eggs from mouse stem cells under laboratory conditions and then pushed the eggs towards fertilisation, yielding a fertile offspring as the end result. This is usually a territory that scientists tread with utmost caution.

The work is a “stunning achievement,” says George Daley of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who was not involved in the project.

Pluripotent Stem Cells and Mouse Eggs

Oocytes, or egg cells were produced from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from mouse skin cells and mouse embryonic stem cells under clinical conditions in a petri-dish. The characteristics of both stem cell types enable them to generate almost any cell type in the human body.

Utilizing the sperm from a healthy male mouse, through IVF or vitro fertilization process, the research team fertilized the egg cells. They team only transplanted the fertilized eggs into female mice only they had been conditioned to grow into two cell embryos. 3.5% of the implanted embryos successfully produced offspring who in turn were able to reproduced post turning into matured adult mice.

“The researchers also showed that they could derive new ES cell lines from embryos generated from the labmade eggs. That recreates, they note, a full cycle of female germ cell development in the lab.”

Not Perfect Science

The egg-making technique, whilst impressive has been identified with some serious concerns. Only 3.5% of the implanted embryos were able to grow into healthy adult mice. Additionally, the research team also found out that approximately 18% of the stem-cell derived eggs had an unusual number of chromosomes. The presence of the imbalanced chromosomes possibly resulted in less embryos developing and could probably also cause genetic disorders in the offspring.

In order to complete the process, scientists added cells extracted from the mouse embryos in pregnant mice to the culture dish. The egg cells matured and developed with the support of these outside cells. More research is ongoing in evolving artificial reagents that will in future be able to substitute the requirement for cells.

Will Human Eggs Be Next?

This investigative study automatically raises reservations about the scientific attempt to produce artificial human eggs in a petri-dish. “If a similar strategy proves successful in human pluripotent stem cells, then the options for reproductive biology, but also genetic modification of the germ line, are profound,” Daley says.

In a Nature news release, Azim Surani who is well known in this area of research, said that these ethical issues should be discussed now and include the general public. “This is the right time to involve the wider public in these discussions, long before and in case the procedure becomes feasible in humans.”

In an interview with Phys.org , James Adjaye, another expert from Heinrich Heine University in Germany, raised the point that even if we did generate artificial human eggs, “the final and ultimate test for fully functional human ‘eggs in a dish’ would be the fertilization using IVF, which is also ethically not allowed.”

Looking forward, senior author on the Nature study, Katsuhiko Hayashi, predicted that in a decade, lab-grown “oocyte-like” human eggs will be available but probably not at a scale for fertility treatments. Because of the technical issues his study revealed, he commented, “It is too preliminary to use artificial oocytes in the clinic.”

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Temporomandibular joint or more commonly referred to as TMJ, is a condition that many suffer from on a global scale. A recent study found out that approximately 10 million people, women being a majority in the US are victims to this disorder.

So what is the temporomandibular joint?
The joint that links your jaw to the temporal bones of your skull, which are located right in front of your ear, is known as your temporomandibular joint. It acts like an axis that allows movements of your jaw that enables you to speak, chew and yawn.

If you are having trouble with your jaw and the controlling muscles in your face, it is called temporomandibular disorders or TMD. The cause of this disorder is not clearly known or defined. Probable symptoms of TMD, which dentists believe could actually be a result of issues in the jaw muscles or with the parts of the joint itself.

Acute ache and soreness are often triggered by TMD that may affect both sides of your face. This may subsequently lead to various other indications like concentrated discomfort in the jaw, face and head; inconvenience in gulping and talking and faintness. The condition may be temporary or possibly last for several years. It is a common occurrence between the ages of 20 to 40.

Made of fibrocartilage, TMJ in a healthy state helps the jaw to function smoothly by acting as a cushion. Nevertheless, the cartilage is not equipped with the capability to repair or renew. Hence, all the available treatment or surgery does, is disguise the indicators but not actually repair the essential impairment of the joint.

Published in Nature Communications under “Exploiting endogenous fibrocartilage stem cells to regenerate cartilage and repair joint injury,” a research team at Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine (USA) carried out a cell culture studies as well as clinical trials on animals, acknowledged that stem cells inside the TMJ possessed the potential to develop cartilage and bone. Further investigations by the research team presented that Wnt, a protein, with its signalling activity led to the diminution of these fibrocartilage stem cells (FSCSs) in animals. As a result of this, it instigated significant weakening of the cartilage on introducing an accepted inhibitor of Wnt into the animals’ impaired TMJ stimulated development and recuperation of the joint.

“This is very exciting for the field because patients who have problems with their jaws and TMJs are very limited in terms of clinical treatments available,” said Mildred C. Embree, DMD, PhD, assistant professor of dental medicine at Columbia and lead author of the study. Dr. Embree’s team, the TMJ Biology and Regenerative Medicine Lab, conducted the research with colleagues including Jeremy Mao, DDS, PhD, the Edwin S. Robinson Professor of Dentistry (in orthopedic surgery) at Columbia.[1]

The next step of the investigation is to explore options of suitable Wnt inhibitors that may be tried under clinical conditions. In a university press release, Jeremy Mao, a co-author on the paper, talked about the implications of these results. “They suggest that molecular signals that govern stem cells may have therapeutic applications for cartilage and bone regeneration. Cartilage and certain bone defects are notoriously difficult to heal.”[2]

In the long run, Dr. Embree and her team say the outcomes could spearhead eventual strategies for mending fibrocartilage in other joints, including the knees and vertebral discs. “Those types of cartilage have different cellular constituents, so we would have to really investigate the molecular underpinnings regarding how these cells are regulated,” the researcher said.[3]

Sources:

• http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2016/10/tmj-stem-cells-used-to-repair-cartilage-in-the-joint.html
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26123357
• http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/temporomandibular-disorders-tmd#1
• https://blog.cirm.ca.gov/2016/10/14/stem-cell-stories-that-caught-our-eye-relief-for-jaw-pain-vitamins-for-ipscs-and-alzheimers-insights/

[1] Exploiting endogenous fibrocartilage stem cells to regenerate cartilage and repair joint injury – Mildred C. Embree, Mo Chen, Serhiy Pylawka, Danielle Kong, George M. Iwaoka, Ivo Kalajzic, Hai Yao, Chancheng Shi, Dongming Sun, Tzong-Jen Sheu, David A. Koslovsky, Alia Koch & Jeremy J. Mao

[2] Stem cells from jaw bone help repair damaged cartilage – Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, October 10, 2016

[3] TMJ stem cells used to repair cartilage in the joint – Posted by DentistryIQ Editors, October 12, 2016

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To start with, let us first understand what is ‘delayed cord clamping’.

According to the International Childbirth Education Association, “Delayed cord clamping is a birth practice where the umbilical cord is not clamped or cut until after pulsations have ceased, or until after the placenta is delivered.”

Now you may ask why this procedure is necessary and how does it impact your baby. At the time of birth, your baby’s body contains two-thirds of the blood whilst the placenta contains about one-third of the blood. Studies have revealed that a delay in the clamping of the umbilical cord can provide newborns approximately 30% more of the foetal-placental blood volume. Thus, delaying the cord clamping will give your baby a healthy blood volume.

Let Us Look At Some More Benefits That Delayed Cord Clamping Can Offer:

• The extra blood that delayed cord clamping provides to your baby can prevent anemia. Since breast milk does not provide sufficient amounts of iron which is important not only for preventing anemia but also for your baby’s brain development, the blood received from delayed clamping can deliver the extra iron content needed by your baby’s body.
• Delayed cord clamping allows your baby to incorporate an increased amount of stem cells into their body as the production of stem cells is highest at the time of birth. Stem cells are a core part of the body’s anatomy. They have the potential to repair and cure any type of internal injuries or illnesses.
• Some studies have shown that the extra time taken to detach the umbilical cord can give your baby a neurodevelopmental boost in later life.
• As mentioned before, delayed cord clamping increases the baby’s blood volume which in turn promotes a healthy neonatal cardiopulmonary transition.
• In the cases of babies who are born prematurely, delayed cord clamping can allow them to have stabilized blood pressure in the days succeeding the birth.

Although delayed cord clamping has several benefits, the ideal time for cord clamping is a topic of much debate. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists “Several systematic reviews have suggested that clamping the umbilical cord in all births should be delayed for at least 30–60 seconds, with the infant maintained at or below the level of the placenta because of the associated neonatal benefits, including increased blood volume, reduced need for blood transfusion, decreased incidence of intracranial hemorrhage in preterm infants, and lower frequency of iron deficiency anemia in term infants. Evidence exists to support delayed umbilical cord clamping in preterm infants, when feasible. The single most important clinical benefit for preterm infants is the possibility for a nearly 50% reduction in intraventricular hemorrhage. However, currently, the evidence is insufficient to confirm or refute the potential for benefits from delayed umbilical cord clamping in term infants, especially in settings with rich resources.”

Delayed cord clamping is a common practice amongst most doctors and has no effect on the process of cord blood collection since the cord blood is collected only after the cord has completely stopped pulsating. So if you are an expecting parent and have opted for cord blood banking, you can speak to Cordlife expert today!

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