Specifically, Professor of Regenerative Medicine Colin McGuckin, Ph.D., at Newcastle University’s United Kingdom (UK) Centre for Cord Blood, and Nicolas Forraz, Ph.D., clinical sciences business manager at Newcastle University and senior research associate in Professor McGuckin’s group, will discuss the use and benefits of cord blood stem cells and data demonstrating the MLPC’s similarity to embryonic stem cells with regard to its “high potential for multilineage tissue differentiation.”

“It is a very exciting time to be working with cord blood stem cells,” said Professor McGuckin. “Researchcontinues to demonstrate these cells, and the MLPC in particular, can turn into multiple cell and tissue types once thought to only be derived from embryonic stem cells. As a result, the readily available MLPC is leading a new and exciting category of highly functional cord blood stem cells immediately suitable for a variety of research applications. And, with their documented successful use in human transplant settings, cord blood stem cells have widespread appeal and the future potential to enhance human therapeutics and drug screening in the very near term.”

When comparing the MLPC against other cord blood cell subsets and a bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell, Professor McGuckin and Dr. Forraz found it expressed homogeneous, immature and uncommitted characteristics, with a high degree of stemness and quiescence.

“Stem cell research continues to be the subject of much discussion, particularly given President Bush’s recent veto of legislation to loosen embryonic stem cell research funding restrictions in the United States,” said Dr. Forraz. “The MLPC and its technical merits are intriguing as an option for conducting highly relevant therapeutic and drug development research — especially considering the cell is sourced from cord blood, which is readily available and often discarded as medical waste.”

While the MLPC is slightly more mature than an embryonic stem cell, research conducted both internally at BioE and independently by external research collaborators, including Newcastle University, has demonstrated its ability to turn into neural stem cells, nerve cells, lung cells, early stage liver and pancreas cells, skeletal muscle, fat cells, bone cells, and blood vessels. Since July 2005, BioE has licensed its MLPC to academic research institutions, corporate laboratories and pharmaceutical organizations located around the world for stem cell and regenerative medicine research and drug development.

Dr. Haecker, who holds a doctorate degree in molecular biology and bioethics and conducted her post-doctoral work in gene therapy, continued, “It’s important industry, academia and religious organizations continue to hold forums and discussions about stem cell research of all types to ensure this complex topic is debated openly and freely to facilitate the practice of technically sound science. Ultimately, the end result of such forums and discussions will be better patient outcomes, a goal all stem cell researchers and companies are striving to achieve — including Newcastle University and BioE.”

The North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) draws together Durham and Newcastle Universities, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and other partners in a unique interdisciplinary collaboration to convert stem cell research and technologies into cost-effective, ethically robust 21st century health solutions to ameliorate degenerative diseases, the effects of ageing and serious injury. The Institute has received substantial funding and other support from the regional development agency, One NorthEast.