Do you know a newborn’s umbilical cord is home to life-saving stem cells like lymphoma and leukaemia. Yes, this is why parents, these days, opt to store the blood in an infant’s umbilical cord.
If pregnancies get affect by gestational diabetes, the stem cells of the umbilical cord get damage, making the cord useless.
A study, by bioengineers at the University of Notre Dame, talks about a new strategy that can restore the damage stem cells, and enable them to grow new tissues again.
Under the new strategy, each damage stem cell is given a nanoparticle backpack.
According to study, each spherical nanoparticle, which is 150 nanometers in diameter, has the capacity to store the medicine and slowly transfer it to stem cells.
Donny Hanjaya-Putra, assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, bioengineering graduate program at Notre Dame, said,
“Each stem cell is like a soldier. It is smart and effective; it knows where to go and what to do. But the ‘soldiers’ we are working with are injured and weak. By providing them with this nanoparticle “backpack,” we are giving them what they need to work effectively again.”
After, the researchers conduct an experiment on the damage cells by removing the “backpacks”.
Later examination, it was conclude that the said cells form imperfect tissues.
And, the result with “backpacks” show the formation of new blood vessels
As per Donny Hanjaya-Putra, their study has the “clearest path of any method developed so far.”
Donny Hanjaya-Putra Said :
“Methods that involve injecting the medicine directly into the bloodstream come with many unwanted risks and side effects.”
As Donny Hanjaya-Putra and his team think that this approach can come in handy during pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia.
Donny Hanjaya-Putra Said :
“Instead of discarding the stem cells, in the future, we hope clinicians will be able to rejuvenate them and use them to regenerate the body.”
Donny Hanjaya-Putra Said :
“For example, a baby born prematurely due to preeclampsia may have to stay in the NICU with an imperfectly formed lung. We hope our technology can improve this child’s developmental outcomes.”
