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Acting Deputy Public Health Minister Wicharn Meenchainant said yesterday that the laboratory, run under the Department of Medical Science, has the capacity to prepare, grow and test the quality of stem cells that will be used in clinical trials.

The operation of the stem cell laboratory follows international Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations, which ensure the safety and quality of stem cells before their use in patients.

Stem cells have the potential to develop into many different cell types in the body and can divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. They serve as a sort of repair system for the body.

When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialised function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell or a brain cell.

In the past few year, Wicharn said, the Department of Medical Science has collaborated with Ramathibodi Hospital to use its laboratory to study bone-marrow transplants using coronary vessels to replace muscle and capillaries damaged by the failure of cardiac muscle.

 

Wicharn said the successful research and the establishment of the stem-cell laboratory could raise the country to a leading position as a medical hub of Southeast Asia.

Moreover, he said the ministry was planing to set up a new stem cell bank to collect and provide regenerative medicine for public use in the near future.