Let's create useful application for cell culturing!

In previous post I've asked about the necessity of mobile application development.

Now let's talk more specific.

While working with cell cultures I always notice lots of possibilities to improve the performance and make all procedures easier and to avoid mistakes.

However sometimes it's really hard to manage all cell cultures and to have all data available anywhere anytime.

That's why once I found myself thinking about the creation of something handy, trendy and highly useful for people who need to spend lots of time in laboratory.

My current idea is to develop the application for smartphones that will simplify some routine steps in cell cultivation process.

I'm not  an application developer and I don't have enough funding to hire a good one today. That is why I've launched the campaign for this goal. Moreover, I'd like to hear any comments, wishes and recommendations from both cell scientists and people who know how such stuff as mobile app development works. It's important because I'd like to give the most precise description of this task to engineers.

Here's the donation page

All features are still under construction but here are some crucial goals that I want to see in ready-to-use app:

•  Interactive Journal with the opportunity to put data abot the culture: isolation day (for primary cultures), seeding day (for other), number and date of passage, medium used (chose from given options e.g.: MEM, DMEM, RPMI etc), serum used (type of serum and %, e.g.: FBS, 10%), medium additives presence such as glutamine, glucose etc, the initial number of cells, type of flask used and other nesessary characteristics. 
• This Journal will provide notifications - reminders of a regular medium change, subculturing etc
•  Tools for cell counting such as population doubling time calculator, plotting options etc.
• One of my wishes is to make some sort of color detector that will give the possibility to determine the pH of the medium based on color on the photo
•  Maybe there would be tools for image processing with microscope (linked to existing programs or connected with new simplified mobile programm)
• The possibility of additional (or only) marking of the culture flask using a code with information that appears in a smartphone
•  Maybe a tool for rapid qualitative detection of signs of contamination by turbidity, color, environment
•  An analytical package for the interpretation of test results (PRO)

Of course it's just a raw draft and you may also take part in creative process with your vision.

Thanks for all comments. It's really important!

Visit it also, please.

Apps for stem cell culturing

Dear readers, do you know any relevant stem cell related applications for smartphones?
Or maybe applications for assisting in cell culturing process?

And what do you think about the utility of such applications?

Thank you!

Wonderful stem cell blog

Just discovered the wonderful blog about the hot cell therapy topic! http://roosterbio.blogspot.com - there are lots of opinions on mesenchymal stem cell biology, clinical utility and other aspects. The most stunning thing about this blog is the courage for discussing the "uncomfortable" questions. These questions are intensively avoided because of some "anti-commercial" conclusions, but the resolving of such problems is extremely important for the development of safe and effective regenerative medicine.

Umbilical Cord Tissue-Derived Cells as Therapeutic Agents

Olga Maslova, Miroslav Novak, and Peter Kruzliak, “Umbilical Cord Tissue-Derived Cells as Therapeutic Agents,” Stem Cells International, Article ID 150609, in press.
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/aa/150609/ - our new work in Stem Cells International. I'm in love with this type of stem cells but need to admit that there are still lots of problems. I hope this paper would be useful for you.

Abstract
Although the characteristics of SC, including UC-derived cells, are a dramatically discussed issue, this review will focus particularly on some controversial issues regarding clinical utility of cells isolated from UC tissue. UC-derived cells have several advantages compared to other types and sources of stem cells. The impact of UC topography on cell characteristics is briefly discussed. The necessity to adapt existing methods of cell isolation and culturing to GMP conditions is mentioned, as well as possible cryopreservation of this material. Light is shed on some future perspectives for UC-derived cells.

UC: MSC+HSC

My cartoon about MSC and HSC from Umbilical Cord

positive interim safety results of its Phase IIa study of its allogeneic stem cell therapy

Cell Therapy pioneer TiGenix has announced positive interim safety results of its Phase IIa study of its allogeneic stem cell therapy Cx611 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), showing a good safety profile at all three doses of the product that were administered in the trial.
This is a significant development in the field of stem cell therapy because Cx611 is an allogeneic product that potentially could be made available off-the-shelf and used to treat any patient, without concerns that the foreign cells will cause an immune reaction. In addition, TiGenix says the product, which is made from adult stem cells derived from human adipose (fat) tissue, has a broad anti-inflammatory effect and could also be used to treat other autoimmune disorders.
If positive, the final results of the trial, due in April 2013, will set the scene for the further development of Cx611. The TiGenix trial is the most advanced in the world using stem cells to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Along with other cell therapies that are advancing in development such as ReNeuron plc’s neuronal cell therapy for treating the after-effects of stroke, and the human embryonic stem cell-based treatment for macular degeneration (a major cause of blindness) which Pfizer is developing in collaboration with scientists at University College London, the TiGenix news on Cx611 underlines Europe’s leading position in cell therapy and regenerative medicine.
These three products can all trace their origins back to publicly-funded basic research, providing a potent demonstration of the importance of continuing to support academic research in the field, and of building and reinforcing the clinical and regulatory framework for translating this research into commercial products.
Moves by some MEPs to end European Union funding for embryonic stem cell research in the proposed €80 billion Horizon 2020 R&D programme are widely seen as a threat to Europe’s standing in cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Science|Business brought together experts from patients’ groups, research charities, academe, industry, science and economic policy, and regulators, to discuss the implications of an end to EU support for embryonic stem cell research, and scope what needs to be done to build the regenerative medicines market in Europe, to the benefit of patients and the economy. The full report is now available here.

http://www.sciencebusiness.net/news/75982/European-cell-therapy-pioneer-makes-further-advance?utm_source 

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Here is the express Stem Cell news on the other place - my paper.li. Very interesting place to put your information. I like it!:

video

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18496355

From Stem Cell TV

Interesting video!

FT1050 - new compound for stem cell therapies

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212220942.htm:

ScienceDaily (Dec. 12, 2011) — A therapy involving a natural compound may improve the ability of stem cells from umbilical cord blood to engraft in patients receiving a stem cell transplant for cancer or other diseases, a phase I clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists indicates.

"There is a significant need to improve the speed and quality of engraftment of cord-derived stem cells," says trial leader Corey Cutler, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital. "FT1050 has shown the ability in preclinical research to activate hematopoetic [blood-forming] stem cells so they engraft more quickly and with a higher degree of success."
FT1050-treated blood-forming stem cells are being tested as a possible solution to one of the major shortcomings of transplants involving stem cells from umbilical cord blood: the relatively small number of stem cells infused in such procedures often take longer to engraft -- or take root -- in patients than do the more numerous stem cells involved in transplants from adult donors. The delay can leave patients susceptible to dangerous infections and other complications.

Umbilical cord stem cell transplants are an option for patients who do not have a closely-matched adult donor. Because the current pool of potential donors is smaller for non-Caucasians than for Caucasians, members of ethnic minorities tend to receive transplants from cord blood at a higher rate than Caucasians do.

The goal of the phase I trial was to assess the safety of FT1050-treated cord blood cells in adult patients receiving umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants, and determine if the treated cells accelerate engraftment. In the 12 patients who participated in the trial, engraftment occurred approximately three to four days faster than happens with standard cord blood cells. Levels of white blood cells known as neutrophils returned to normal in the patients after a median of 17.5 days, similar to the rate in standard stem cell transplants. Side effects of the FT1050-treated cord blood cells were minimal. In none of the study patients did the stem cells fail to engraft.

The phase I trial was sponsored by Fate Therapeutics, Inc., of San Diego, Calif., which is developing ProHema, a biologic product consisting of hematopoietic stem cells treated with FT1050 for patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. FT1050 was identified by Leonard Zon, MD, a hematologist and director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston, using chemical screens conducted in zebrafish, and is the first potential therapeutic derived from a zebrafish model to make into clinical trials.

"We're encouraged by the results of this study for patients receiving umbilical cord stem cell transplants after reduced-intensity chemotherapy treatment," Cutler says. "Further studies are planned to test FT1050-treated hematopoietic stem cells in a larger group of these patients."

Skeptics in Stem Cell Research

Stem cells are really promising, but it's important to be able to see all troubles that can be observed during and after the treatment.

Here is a relevant article that describes such  problems:

All promises from clinics or cord blood banks should be taken with a pinch of salt, they say

With barely any regulation and monitoring in the lucrative stem cell therapy and cord blood banking business, their suggestion for the common man is to ask many questions at the clinics and companies offering such services and to fully understand the risks before going ahead with stem cell therapy and cord blood banking.

“Stem cells have lots of hopes and promises, but at the moment very few are of a proven benefit to the patients,” said Kanjaksha Ghosh, director of Mumbai’s National Institute of Immunohaematology, one of the laboratories of Indian Council of Medical Research.

Before accepting any stem cell therapy, a patient should ask whether it was an investigational or standard therapy; what the long term risks are and how many patients received it before, and what the response was, said Ghosh.

Explaining why private clinics offering stem cell therapies were mushrooming in India, Ghosh attributed the cause to the absence of strict regulation, hype about the technology and its wide availability. Also stem cell therapies are promised in desperate situations.

“Higher level of evidence is required before the stem cell therapies are put to clinical use,” Harvindersingh Chhabra at Delhi's Indian Spinal Injuries Centre said at an ICMR-department of biotechnology public consultation on stem cell.

The government in future aims at converting the revised guideline into a law on stem cell research and therapy with a punishment clause to book the doctors and clinics who flout the existing guidelines.

The misleading claims of private cord blood banks who pitch storing umbilical cord blood as “biological insurance” for lifetime protection and charge a hefty fee.

“But the volume they collect is only 70 ml, which is not sufficient if it is used to extract stem cell for anybody beyond 10 years of age,” said Shyam Agarwal, former director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education in Lucknow.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/212534/stem-cell-cure-claims-dubious.html