Research on stem cells launched

NEW DELHI, AUG. 13. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has launched three major programmes on stem cell research aimed at treating blindness and some types of brain disorders, and is hoping to allot ``significant amount of funding'' for the research in the 10th Five Year Plan, a senior DBT official has said.

The L. V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad and the newly created National Brain Research Center (NBRC) in New Delhi are among the beneficiaries of the DBT funding, Mr. N. K. Vinayak, head of the medical biotechnology division, told PTI.

The availability of stem cells from legally aborted foetuses and unused embryos from test-tube baby clinics would help speed up research in this area which has great `potential' in future, Mr. Vinayak said. The Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines allow the use of aborted foetuses and less than 14-day old embryos in medical research. But transplantation of stem cells into humans is permitted only after animal trials when other forms of treatment are not available.

Doctors in test-tube baby clinics create several embryos and unused embryos are flushed down the toilet. Mr. Vinayak said these could be put to use because embryonic cells are a rich source of stem cells, which, under proper conditions, have the ability to differentiate into tissues of choice.

- PTI

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