Michela and Alessandro from Sassari (Sardinia) are Kevin‘s parents, a 2 age old child suffering from spastic quadriparesis and optic nerve hypoplasia (blindness). Since he was born he endured 4 surgeries: kidneys, heart, bladder tumor and genital rebuilding.
Then Bangkok. And now the parents are hoping.
But Kevin is not alone because there are more than 100 Italian citizens treated with chinese cord stem cells in Bangkok’s hospital.
The latest developments in molecular biology in the prenatal diagnostic field, particularly regarding preserving stem cells extracted from amniotic liquid, were the focus of the latest S.I.Di.P conference (Italian Society of Prenatal Diagnosis and Maternal Fetal Medicine).
After a greeting from S.I.Di.P President Claudio Giorlandino and President of the Italian Gynecology and Obstetrics Society Giorgio Vittori, Professor Giuseppe Simone, the head of the Biocell Center in Busto Arsizio (VA), the first Italian center able to treat and store stem cells extracted from the amniotic liquid in liquid nitrogen, opened the conference.
“In the next five to ten years,” explained Professor Simoni, “scientific research will have developed therapy based on amniotic stem cells. They are very similar to embryonic stem cells, they are multipotent and young, and this means that they are preferable to embryonic stem cells.
Preserving them creates no risk and the embryo is not sacrificed. Investing into research in this field is an obligation to humanity. There are so many possibilities and the research into amniotic stem cells to treat diseases represents the new frontier for research in the third millennium.
Researchers hope that they can be used to combat many terrible diseases, as well as in reconstructive surgery, and to treat nerve system diseases.”
Stem cells derived from the amniotic liquid are able to differentiate into various tissues, including bone, fat, nerve, cartilage, muscle, hematopoietic tissue, and offer a wide range of clinical applications.
“The future,” continued Simoni, “is research into these types of stem cells, which many research groups, including research teams from Italy, are studying. Preserving them, from anyone who has already decided to undergo amniocentesis is a golden opportunity to donate a precious gift to the future: the gift of life itself. Cryoconservation will allow us to be ready when scientific progress achieves further developments, which will come soon.”
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=c67f9f1c-1edb-42a9-9350-b759edc09925)
Getting information and advice in the pharmacy to collect and store umbilical cord stem cells abroad: this is the service provided by the Clic-care system, a brand managed by a company operating in the home assistance sector, and already present in pharmacies in Milan. The company recently issued a statement presenting the service. A service in which each pregnant woman, according to the company’s website www.clic-care.it, can request directly at the pharmacy to reserve a free consultation appointment for information on storing umbilical cord stem cells. Storage which, according to Italian law, can only be done in public stem cell banks for public use, not in private banks.
After a free telephone interview in which women can learn and understand the procedure to store stem cells, the company promises that it will take care of all of the paperwork required by Italian law as well as practical aspects of the process. After birth, the cells are handed over to specialized technicians in the hospital who will send them to the United Kingdom, where the cells will be deposited and stored in a private center. Periodically, the family will be informed about new goals and available cures. The president of the Italian National Federation of Pharmacy Owners (Federfarma), Anna Rosa Racca, said, “currently, Federfarma is collecting information on the initiative to assess the various aspect”.
Exporting umbilical cords abroad to be stored and collecting umbilical cord stem cells for autologous use “is possible if done according to Italian law. It is necessary to evaluate whether the other services offered by private companies in Italy respect all of the laws,” said Alessandro Nanni Costa, the director of the National Transplant Center (CNT) said regarding clic-care.
In Italy, said Nanni Costa, “collecting stem cells for autologous use and private banks to store them is not allowed. For exports abroad, we offer counseling to inform pregnant women about collection methods, storage, and use. The women must fill out a form about autologous collection on the CNT website”. Then they must obtain the necessary certification from the regional Health Department, and then must ask for authorization from the Health Ministry.
When this procedure has concluded, the umbilical cord can be sent abroad. “If all of these regulations are satisfied, along with all of the other requirements, like those for health-related advertisements, the service offered by these private companies is legal. But it is necessary to assess whether the information is correct and to understand exactly what they offer and how. If the information is not correct, then we will evaluate the timetable and methods to intervene”.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=59c85b4b-7be2-47f7-92dd-6714c77bb463)
“What I cannot stand, what really gets me, is that we have set up a scam, in which Italy says that for moral reasons it is against embryonic stem cell research, but then it reaps the benefits from the research: if Italy is truly against stem cell research, the government must say that Italian citizens will never benefit from the discoveries that will come from the research”, said Italian researcher Elena Cattaneo, who spoke at the 2nd World Congress for “freedom of research’ of the Luca Conscioni Association in Brussels.
At the congress, 1993 Nobel Prize winner for chemistry, Kary Mullis spoke, as well as Martin Perle, 1995 winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, and Spanish Healthcare Minister Bernat Soria, who accepted to be the leader of a new movement for ‘the freedom to treat the sick’, requested by a Belgian ALS patient, and who confirmed “the need for complete freedom in research”.
A new method to reprogram adult cells making them similar to stem cells has been discovered. The key protein in the discovery is Wnt, already known to scientists for its involvement in numerous phases of development in vertebrates and invertebrates. The study, conducted by the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) in Naples by Maria Pia Cosma, was published in the online version of Cell Stem Cell magazine. The study involved various types of adult cells including fibroblasts, thymus cells, and neural precursor cells, which were fused with embryonic stem cells in the presence of the Wnt protein. Following the manipulation, the adult cells transformed into undifferentiated cells (pluripotent) able to give rise to cells and tissues different from their initial programming.
