Scientists Create Human Sperm In A Lab

FRENCH researchers say they have patented a method to create sperm using stem cells harvested from infertile men — though they do not know if the lab-fabricated seed actually works.

On Thursday the team hailed their technique as a step towards solving male infertility, but admitted it would take several years before the “quality” of the sperm will be confirmed.

The method, patented in June, took 20 years to refine, said the researchers from Kallistem biotech company in Lyon, east France.

It involved recreating, outside the human body, the fluid in which seminiferous tubules — the tiny structures where sperm cells are formed in the male testes — can survive.

They used it to coax rat, monkey and then human sperm cells from spermatogonia, immature cells that become eggs or sperm. The process is complex, and takes about 72 hours.

The sperm are “morphologically normal” (normal-looking), the researchers said. It is not known whether the tiny cells are up to the job of creating babies.

The next step, the team said, is to try and give life to rats with rat sperm created using the method.

“We must see if the baby rats are normal, whether they are able to reproduce,” project member Philippe Durand told journalists in Lyon.

Then there will be a battery of tests with the lab-manufactured human sperm, to compare it to ordinary sperm, and finally clinical trials.

The work has not yet been validated through publication in a peer-reviewed science journal.

But the team said in a statement their work “opens the way for therapeutic avenues that have been eagerly awaited by clinicians for many years.” “From a testicular biopsy in these infertile men, the scientists will be able to obtain spermatozoa in vitro,” said the statement.

However, Nathalie Rives, an infertility expert from Rouen in northern France, cautioned: “We are not there yet”.

“Before this technique can find any practical application, it must be proven to work with (cells) from the testes of prepubescent boys and men who have trouble generating sperm,” she told AFP.

In August 2011, scientists in Kyoto said they had successfully coaxed sperm cells from mouse embryonic stem cells.

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Stem Cell Treatment In India : GIOSTAR

Stem cells are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods. Unlike muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells—which do not normally replicate themselves—stem cells may replicate many times, or proliferate. Regardless of their source—have three general properties: they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; they are unspecialized; and they can give rise to specialized cell types. Stem cells have been successfully isolated from variety of human tissues including orofacial tissues. Initial evidence from pioneering studies has documented the likely breakthrough that stem cells offer for various life-threatening diseases that have so far defeated modern medical care.

Scientists are still under the process of understanding the several unanswered questions related to stem cells as stem cell treatment is the most promising therapy for many devastating degenerative diseases. Anemia, leukemia, lymphoma are some of the blood related disorders treated through stem cell treatment in India.

Now the question that strikes into the mind of every reader is what are stem cells. The answer is - They are unspecialized cells with an extraordinary ability to self-renew, capable of differentiating into one or more specialized cell types playing a crucial role in homeostasis and tissue repair. Based on their origin, stem cells are categorized either as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or as postnatal stem cells/somatic stem cells/adult stem cells (ASCs). Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are derived from embryos that are 2–11 days old called blastocysts. They are best grown from supernumerary embryos obtained from in vitro fertilization centers. Adult stem cells are found in most adult tissues.The plasticity of an adult stem cell is described as its ability to expand beyond its potential irrespective of the parent cell from which it is derived. For example, dental pulp stem cells not only develop into tooth tissue but also have the ability to differentiate into neuronal tissue.

Depending on their origin, adult stem cells can be further classified as hemopoetic stem cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Stem cell treatment for many diseases are now the most reliable and effective method to cure it.

Treating Kidney Patients With Stem Cells Enters Clinical Phase

Explaining the latest findings in the field of kidney disease treatment with stem cells, deputy of Royan Institute has said that this method has entered the clinical phase.

Noting that some charity activists have agreed to help kidney patients, Abdolhossein Shahroodi stated that, “Royan Institute will start work on treatment of kidney disease with the help of charity activists.”

He reiterated that researchers at the Royan Institute have been working on this field for the past two years adding that, “a great amount of research was carried out in the study phase of treating kidney patients using stem cells and the experiments on animals have led to positive results.”

Referring to the clinical treatment of kidney disease, Shahroodi asserted that, “for the past six months, we have carried out tests on two kidney patients suffering from polycystic which we hope will produce positive outcomes.”

According to this researcher, using stem cells for the treatment of kidney patients will reduce the need for immunosuppressive drugs.

Underlining that this line of research has a bright future, Shahroodi expressed hope that the results will be ready by the end of the Iranian year - ending March 21, 2016 - in order to help the patients in need.

Royan Institute is a public non-governmental non-profitable organization established in 1991 as a research institute for reproductive biomedicine and infertility treatments. Now this institute acts as pioneer of stem cell research and also one of the best clinics for infertility treatment in Iran.

Source : http://goo.gl/ji7Qol

Stroke Patients Show Promising Signs Of Recovery After Stem Cell Therapy

Stroke patients who took part in a small pilot study of a stem cell therapy have shown tentative signs of recovery six months after receiving the treatment.

Doctors said the condition of all five patients had improved after the therapy, but that larger trials were needed to confirm whether the stem cells played any part in their progress. Scans of the patients' brains found that damage caused by the stroke had reduced over time, but similar improvements are often seen in stroke patients as part of the normal recovery process.

At a six-month check-up, all of the patients fared better on standard measures of disability and impairment caused by stroke, but again their improvement may have happened with standard hospital care. The pilot study was designed to assess only the safety of the experimental therapy and with so few patients and no control group to compare them with, it is impossible to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the treatment.

Paul Bentley, a consultant neurologist at Imperial College London, said his group was applying for funding to run a more powerful randomised controlled trial on the therapy, which could see around 50 patients treated next year.

"The improvements we saw in these patients are very encouraging, but it's too early to draw definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of the therapy," said Soma Banerjee, a lead author and consultant in stroke medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. "We need to do more tests to work out the best dose and timescale for treatment before starting larger trials."

The five patients in the pilot study were treated within seven days of suffering a severe stroke. Each had a bone marrow sample taken, from which the scientists extracted stem cells that give rise to blood cells and blood vessel lining cells. These stem cells were infused into an artery that supplied blood to the brain.

The stem cells, called CD34+ cells, do not grow into fresh brain tissue, but might work by releasing chemicals that may dampen down inflammation and help other cells to grow where brain tissue is damaged. Some of the cells might also grow into new blood vessels, Bentley said.

Four out of five of the patients had the most serious type of stroke. Normally only 4% of these patients survive and are able to live independently after six months. In the pilot study, published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, all four were alive and three were independent six months later.

"Although they mention some improvement of some of the patients, this could be just chance, or wishful thinking, or due to the special care these patients may have received simply because they were in a trial," said Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics at the MRC's National Institute for Medical Research in London.

Source : http://goo.gl/h5BpIO

Stem Cell Therapy Cuts Down On Orthopedic Surgery Recovery Time

Stem cell therapy is an emerging biologic approach that Mead and other proponents expect will dramatically alter the practice of orthopedics.

What’s needed are more clinical studies to validate the regenerative capabilities of stem cells for damaged joint surfaces caused by trauma or wear and tear. The therapy uses patients’ own stem cells drawn from bone marrow.

“I think this is the future of orthopedics and a really bright tool,” Mead said. “This isn’t the answer to everything. It is going to help us do a lot of things we could not do before.”

source : http://goo.gl/pnGZ0w