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£1m funding boost for stem cell research centre TOM CURTIS [log in to unmask] RESEARCH into human cells which could help cure common diseases such as diabetes has been given a £1m boost in Scotland. The Medical Research Council was today due to announce the funding to expand a centre of excellence in stem cell research at Edinburgh University. It is hoped the money will speed up the process of getting effective therapies from laboratories to hospital clinics. Stem cells, taken from embryos, are the basic building blocks from which tissues and organs grow. They have the potential to revolutionise medicine by offering ways of repairing diseased and damaged body tissues with healthy new cells. But a huge amount of research is still needed on how they work, and there have been problems translating scientific knowledge into usable products. One casualty has been PPL Therapeutics, a spin-off from the Roslin Institute in Midlothian which cloned Dolly the Sheep. It later had to close its Scottish-based stem cell research arm after problems commercialising the technology. Edinburgh University already has an institute of stem cell research which has brought together some of the world’s top experts. Recent discoveries include that of an ‘immortality gene’ which governs the way stem cells grow in mice. But the new money will allow the institute to expand significantly, buying new equipment and taking on specialist staff. One aim is to attract experts who might otherwise be lost to better-funded programmes in the US. The cash will also pay for links with doctors in the university medical school, so basic research findings can be applied to the development of new therapies for patients. Research will focus on understanding how to control the ability stem cells have for self-renewal and growth into any kind of body tissue. Clinical collaborations will then look at organ transplantation and tissue repair, such as potential applications of stem cells in heart disease and circulatory disease. Stem cell research at the university is already funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, which has provided £3.2m over five years. The new money is about 80% research council funding, with the rest coming from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Professor Austin Smith, director of the institute, said: "We have assembled a core of scientists who are expert in basic stem cell research. This funding creates an exciting opportunity to build a world-class centre of excellence that will bridge the gap between fundamental research and clinical applications." Professor Sir George Radda, chief executive of the MRC, said: "We’re delighted to fund Professor Smith’s work to explore the potential of this research to bring benefits to patients with debilitating and life-threatening conditions." The MRC is funded by the UK taxpayer and spends more than £400m a year to promote medical research. SOURCE: Scotland on Sunday, UK http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/scotland.cfm?id=1049242003 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn