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| Diagram of stem cell division and differentiation. A - stem cell; B - progenitor cell; C - differentiated cell; 1 - symmetric stem cell division; 2 - asymmetric stem cell division; 3 - progenitor division; 4 - terminal differentiation (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Alicia Wong
alicia@mediacorp.com.sg
IT IS a rare disease, but the mutated gene that causes progeria can develop in healthy people as they age.
And while it does not mean that people will get the disease later in life, “it does mean it’s worth studying to see if there is an overlap between these very rare diseases and what happens in normal ageing”, said Dr Alan Colman, executive director of the Singapore Stem Cell Consortium (SSCC). The Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome causes accelerated ageing in children and develops in one in 4 to 8 million.
At the first Singapore-Germany Stem Cell Symposium yesterday, Dr Colman said the SSCC started research on this disease six months ago. It used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) — stem cells that are artificially derived from skin cells and share similar characteristics as embryonic stem cells. Using iPSCs sidesteps the ethical dilemma of using embryonic stem cells, and allows scientists to see changes in the cells at very early stages of human development.
“You have a mutation which is active in every cell in the body but only certain tissues, cell types suffer... Why is it so selective?” asked Dr Colman.
Studying tissues that are not affected could help find remedies for other tissues.
“We’re hoping (the) next six months will be very productive,” said Dr Colman.
As for talent, he said the lifting of restrictions in the United States and more funding would create a more competitive environment. It will not affect the work here but it would make recruitment more difficult.
Last year, A*Star’s SSCC jointly organised two symposiums with the United Kingdom and Israel. It hopes to meet with researchers from Boston and Japan next.
From TODAY, News
Tuesday, 07-April-2009
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