Plans Under Way for Stem Cell Centre in Thailand

It's not only western nations that are vying to become stem cell reasearch hubs. Thailand's 'The Nation' newspaper today reports on plans to conduct clinical trials of stem-cell therapy to treat three major neural diseases at the Prasat Neurological Institute, Bangkok.

The project seeks to help victims of Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury and strokes, and transplanting of developed stem cells into patients' central nervous systems is expected to begin this year. A team of about 12 neurological and stem-cell experts is currently reviewing the published results of related studies from all over the world for the project..

The project proposal is being drafted and needs approval from the institute's ethics committee before patient trials can start. Mahidol University's cell engineering and tissue growth laboratory will develop the proper type of stem cells for the project, said Ahnond Bunyaratvej, the secretary-general of the National Research Council of Thailand.

However, viable therapies arent expected in the short term as neurosurgeon Smarn Tangaroosin confirms "Don't hold your breath, we're just at the beginning, though the efficacy of stem-cell transplant remains uncertain, it's proved to be safe so far."