“Stem cells”: topical and mutually beneficial

At the meeting of Union state Council of Ministers that will take place at the end of March in 2008 in Minsk it is planned to consider the union program “Stem cells”. “The development and implementation of the union stem cell program is both for Belarus and for Russia a very topical and mutually beneficial business”, - said Professor Igor Volotovski, the secretary of Department of biological science of the National Academy of Science of Belarus, Doctor of Biological Science , in the interview with the author of “Soyuz” edition.

At the meeting of Union state Council of Ministers that will take place at the end of March in 2008 in Minsk it is planned to consider the union program “Stem cells”. “The development and implementation of the union stem cell program is both for Belarus and for Russia a very topical and mutually beneficial business”, - said Professor Igor Volotovski, the secretary of Department of biological science of the National Academy of Science of Belarus, Doctor of Biological Science , in the interview with the author of “Soyuz” edition.

As far back as a year and a half ago Belarusian scientists announced a desire to speed up the pace of the experiments with stem cells due to a more close cooperation with Russian colleagues within the union scientific program. It was planned in particular to study together the mechanism of stem cell transformation. “As it is known they are all identical on the early stages of new organism life, and then they undergo differentiation and turn into specialized cells: nerve, muscle and other cells”, - points out the author. The scientists would like to learn how to inject into the worn, degenerately changed organs and tissues healthy stem cells so they could restore the functions necessary for a body.

It should be pointed out that belarussian scientists as long ago as in the 90^th of the 20^th century began to show interest in such a research. Now the main task of the researchers is to separate from organs and tissues and in the end to get the necessary amount of so called stem cells.

As it is known the scientists of Belarus entered the stem cells consortium of the 7^th EU frame scientific and technological development program. “Our project had the first assessment: from more than 900 applications 460 were chosen, including ours, from them 165 projects will be chosen for financing, said I.Volotovski. – I believe this is the evidence of our work on the modern level”.

According to E.Lobanok, the head of the stem cells group of the Institute of Biophysics and Cellular Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus , the Russian colleagues haven’t studied the biophysical parameters of stem cells and Belarusian scientists have a large experience in this sphere. “We in fact lay the scientific foundation of the biophysics of stem cells”, - added she. At the same time Belarus doesn’t have their works in genetics and in Russia a few laboratories deal with this.

So the scientists of two states will work with joint efforts over the creation of the hope that gives people the possibility to be cured by the advanced biological methods.