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!

Leprosy & stem cells

Leprosy is a bacterial disease that spreads to muscles and other tissues in the body, causing neurodegeneration and muscle weakness. A new study, published by Cell Press January 17th in the journal Cell, reveals that the bacteria responsible for leprosy spread infection by hijacking specialized cells in the adult nervous system, reprogramming them into a stem cell-like state, and converting them to muscle-like cells. These findings could lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies for combating bacterial infections and degenerative diseases as well as new tools for regenerative medicine.
"This is the first demonstration of how a bacterial pathogen could use the genomic plasticity of our adult body tissue cells for generating stem cells naturally during infection," says senior study author Anura Rambukkana of the University of Edinburgh. "Our findings provide new directions for preventing the progression of infection at an early stage and for reprogramming adult tissue cells to stem cells for regenerating damaged tissues in the body."
Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae), which initially infects adult Schwann cells, cells which usually wrap around nerves to insulate electrical signals passing through, in the peripheral nervous system. The leprosy bacteria must then spread to other tissues to transmit infection, but how they do so has been a long-standing mystery. Because Schwann cells can convert into dedicated repair cells to help adult nerves recover after injury, Rambukkana and his team suspected that M. leprae takes advantage of this remarkable plasticity to spread infection.
To test this idea, the researchers infected adult Schwann cells from mice with M. leprae. The bacteria reprogrammed these cells into a stem cell-like state—in which they're capable of converting into diverse cell types—by turning off genes that are active in the mature form of these cells and turning on genes that are expressed during embryonic development. M. leprae then converted these immature cells into muscle-like cells and spread infection to muscles through this process. When the researchers injected bacteria-laden immature cells into the muscles of adult mice, the bacteria spread to different types of muscle cells.
"Our study shows that host cell reprogramming is perhaps a necessary event in early bacterial infection that promotes the spread of infection," Rambukkana says. "By identifying early molecular targets or diagnostic biomarkers related to the reprogramming process, it will be possible to prevent the progression of infection and thus nerve damage and subsequent disability in patients."

Cell, Masaki et al.: "Reprogramming Adult Schwann Cells to Stem Cell-Like Cells by Leprosy Bacilli Promotes Dissemination of Infection."

Interesting news! Thanks to  http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/cp-nii011013.php 

The reconstruction of rat penis with stem cells!

Wow. Scientists are able to reconstruct almost every organ in our body. The latest news:

Men in need of penis reconstruction could soon enjoy the benefits of a special ingredient: stem cells. A new study in rats shows that lacing a penis graft with adult stem cells yields better healing and sexual function than using the graft alone. The finding may point the way to improved treatments for a variety of human penile impairments.
Men with penis injuries, deformities, or severe Peyronie's disease—which causes excessive scarring that can curve or shrink the penis—sometimes need surgery to reconstruct their genitalia and restore their sexual function. Many receive a graft made of their own tissue, cadaver tissue, or pig intestines, but the surgery can cause complications, including erectile dysfunction.

First. Test.

Stem cells are the most important cells in our body because they can maintain the self-renwal potential of our body.