Originally published February 15 2006
Stem cell researcher hopes to pioneer transplants that will allow diabetics to produce insulin
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Emmanuel Tzanakakis, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has received an NYSTAR grant in support of his research into stem cell-based transplants for diabetes patients.
For diabetes patients, who can't produce their own insulin, human stem cell-based transplants that produce insulin would be a major breakthrough.
But current laboratory methods of culturing human stem cells result in very limited quantities, far short of the quantities necessary for therapeutic applications.
For that reason, Emmanuel (Manolis) Tzanakakis, Ph.D., is striving to boost the numbers of stem cells produced in the laboratory, expanding the pool of cells that eventually can be differentiated into insulin-producing cells.
Tzanakakis, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has received a $200,000 James D. Watson Investigator Grant award to support his studies from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).
He is one of six researchers throughout the state to receive the award this year.
Such cells could be used for diabetes therapies, including transplantation into patients, freeing them from the lifelong necessity of daily insulin injections.
Working with adult and embryonic stem cells derived from both mice and humans, Tzanakakis and other groups use bioreactor systems, vessels containing growth media and stem cells, that have the potential to produce high densities of undifferentiated cells.
"With sound engineering and the application of biological principles, I believe we can achieve large-scale expansion of stem cell production," he said.
He also is exploring ways of inducing larger numbers of stem cells to differentiate into those that produce insulin, based on an understanding of how the pancreas develops in the embryo.
Before coming to UB in 2004, Tzanakakis held post-doctoral positions at the Diabetes Center in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and at the Stem Cell Institute in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml