Research of stem cells at the Biotechnology Laboratory on Fauna at the HCM City-based University of Natural Sciences.

VietNamNet Bridge – More than 30 stem cell experts and doctors of Hanoi and HCM City have recently met in HCM City to discuss the use of stem cells to reconstruct the skin tissue of a patient in HCM City.

According to Phan Kim Ngoc, Head of the Biotechnology Laboratory on Fauna of the HCM City-based University of Natural Sciences, experts will extract stem cells from the mucous membranes of the mouth, skin, blood and marrow of this patient to serve the transplant.

Ngoc said the use of stem cells of the patient himself would help ease the job of surgeons while avoiding the rejection of transplanted parts.

However, more detailed information about this special patient and the treatment process has not been disclosed yet.

Dr. Le Van Dong from the Military Hospital, a member of the research group of the project named “Building the national stem cell bank and the Vietnam stem cell treatment centre”, said that this project had begun to experimentally use stem cells in the treatment of animals at the National Burn Hospital.

At present, researchers use stem cells provided by Singapore to separate into cells of different kinds such as heart muscle cells, fat, skin, bone, etc. The first application of stem cells will be to treat burns or injuries caused by glycosuria on rabbits and pigs. Vietnamese researchers, after that, will continue experiments on animals.

The test on animals will last from six to twelve months. After that, the research results will be submitted to the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Scientific Council and the Health Ministry’s Morals Council.

In late September, researchers will sign a contract to buy stem cell extracting, specialising and transplanting technology from Singapore.

The Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Bank of the Southern Region (MekoStem), set up by the Mekophar Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, will be put into operation in late October or early November 2007. This bank will preserve umbilical cord blood and tissues.

H. Cat