DUSHANBE, June 29, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajik medical workers will perform a series of the stern cell transplantation operations, Murtazoqul Khidirov, the head of the research laboratory within Tajik State Medical University, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the first operation will be performed on July 5. “In all, 10 such operations will be performed,” said Khidirov, “The operations will be performed free of charge.”
We will recall that the first two stern cell transplantation operations were performed in Tajikistan on March 9 this year. The operations were performed for two men at the Republican Center for Cardiovascular Surgery in Dushanbe. 15 skilled surgeons performed the operations, the source at the Ministry of Health (MoH) said.
Stem cell transplantation is a medical procedure in the fields of hematology and oncology, most often performed for people with diseases of the blood, bone marrow, or certain types of cancer.
Stem cells are cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Research in the stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s. The two broad types of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells that are isolated from the inner cell mass of blasttocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.
