The two syringes on the left contain a very small amount of antibiotics. The large syringe is used for intravenous (IV) administration of stem cells. It contains approximately a quarter of the total VF fraction (SVF) diluted in sterile saline. The four syringes on the right contain a combination of platelet rich plasma (PRP) and SVF and are injected into the joints and intervertebral spaces.

Little did I know about this time last year that animal stem cell therapy was a thing. Looking for a job that would capitalize on my biological background and love for animals, I found a position for a stem cell technician at a local veterinary office. I got the job! and found that there are few things as exciting as changing a dog that was in so much pain that it could barely move to become one who is able to frolic and that To enjoy life again.

Stem cell therapy is an effective tool for treating degenerative or other diseases as well as injuries. This is an effective way to use cells from the dog's own body to regenerate damaged or diseased tissue. It was first used in the veterinary context in 2002 to repair tendons and ligaments in horses.1 Since severe leg injuries can be harmful to horses, especially those involved in racing and jumping, stem cell therapy was a key factor. The results were remarkable most of the horses treated were able to return to their previous activity.

Eventually, stem cell therapy has been used in the treatment of pets, mostly for the same tendon or ligament repair problems, but has largely focused on arthritis. While stem cell therapy is not a panacea, it is a low risk approach to treating injuries and degenerative diseases that provides our dogs with a better quality of life without being dependent on medication.

STEM CELL BASICS

What is a stem cell? It's not quite as easy a question as it sounds. There are different types of stem cells, but the first main characteristic of a stem cell (SC) is that it can become one of several different cell types (called differentiation), creating different tissues. Stem cells are also very proliferative, which means they divide quickly and produce more cells, but at different rates depending on the type of SC.

There is a difference between embryonic and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are responsible for embryonic development. They are pluripotent, which means that they can develop into any type of cell in the adult body. And they are very proliferative, more so than adult SCs. ESCs do not exist in the organism after birth.

An embryo develops from a single cell into a complex organism made up of several tissues. The process of development goes through many stages, but in short, some cells multiply and eventually develop into specialized cells that make up all of the different tissues in the body. ESCs in the early embryo multiply or divide to produce more cells very quickly. They are pluripotent, which means that they can become any type of cell in the organism. Eventually, as development proceeds, the cells become more specialized and less proliferative. There are many levels or levels as PCs move toward specialization.

At the beginning of development, ESCs differentiate into one of three germ layers, from which certain parts of the fetus arise. The endoderm (endo = inner) leads to many internal organs, including the lungs, pancreas, stomach and liver. The mesoderm (meso = middle) leads to bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, muscles, heart, fat and some nerve tissue. The ectoderm (ecto = external) leads to neurons, outer layers of skin and hair. When ESCs share, they produce new SCs that specialize in one of these layers. These SCs produce more SCs as well as "progenitor cells", the precursors for specialized cells that make up different tissues.

The Mesoderm line produces mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are used for therapy. The MSCs are considered multipotent (as opposed to pluripotent) because they can result in a limited number of tissues. MSCs and SCs from the other two lineages are present in the fully developed organism, but are dormant or inactive until needed. They are activated by injuries or illnesses and begin to multiply and differentiate.

Undisputed

When friends hear what I do for a living now, they sometimes ask me: Isn't stem cell therapy controversial? In our context, no! The controversy concerns the use of embryonic stem cells. There are ethical and religious objections to their use in humans. From a clinical point of view, ESC have proven difficult and in some cases dangerous. Because of their highly proliferative nature, they can actually replicate too much. This can lead to mutations in the cells that can lead to cancer.

What we are using are adult stem cells. There are no ethical concerns as the cells can be extracted from a living organism with minimal risk. For SC therapy in a veterinary context, the cells are taken from the same animal that uses them for therapeutic purposes. And because adult stem cells are less hot in terms of proliferation, their genome stays much more stable, essentially eliminating concern about cancer development.

PUTTING STEM CELLS INTO THERAPEUTIC WORK

There are many adult SCs in an adult organism. They are typically dormant and activated in response to tissue damage or disease, starting a complex cascade of cellular and chemical signals. The local SCs are activated and migrate to the specific area and multiply to produce more stem cells as well as progenitor cells to replace impaired specialized cells (such as cartilage or bone).

Importantly, MSCs can be used to treat tissues to which they do not lead. Their main function in these cases is to activate the SCs in that tissue. SCs also modulate the immune system and decrease the inflammatory response. The main function of the stem cells used for therapy is to regenerate healthy tissue directly (for tissues of the mesoderm line) or indirectly (for endoderm or ectoderm lines) to replace what is damaged or diseased.

In cases of arthritis or dysplasia where the bones or cartilage are damaged, the MSCs produce and become these cells. If the ligament is damaged, they produce ligament cells. In the cases of the other two lines, the MSCs stimulate the SCs on that line to produce new cells such as liver cells or skin cells. As the body regenerates new, healthy cells as a result, SC therapy is often referred to as regenerative medicine.

In order to perform stem cell therapy we must first extract the MSCs, concentrate them, and then bring them to the area of injury or disease. The closer the cells can be placed to the specific problem area, the better. In arthritis, the MSCs are injected into the diseased joint; MSCs are given intravenously for areas or organs where injection is not possible. As the SCs travel through the blood to reach various organs, they are available to respond to specific areas of stress in those tissues.

Most dogs receiving SC therapy will need multiple treatments. The time between treatments depends on the person. Repeated treatments are carried out at intervals of one to two months to a year. In my work I have seen a few cases where the problem has stopped after treatment. This is not common, but it does happen.

TREATMENT PROCESS

For SC therapy, MSCs are extracted from the body of the animal to be treated. They are present in tissues such as bone, fat, skin, brain, and heart.2 First, SCs were extracted from the bone marrow. However, there is a greater abundance of MSCs in adipose tissue and this tissue is less traumatic to harvest, so this is the most common source used.

There are several sources of adipose tissue in a dog. Some veterinarians ingest fat from the shoulder blade area. Others, including the veterinarian I work for, Dr. Robert Hagler of Lafayette, Calif., Prefer to use navel fat. This is a relatively simple procedure, but it requires general anesthesia.

Once removed, the fat is processed to extract the stem cells from the tissue (that's my job!). The tissue goes through several mechanical and chemical digestion and separation steps. After a few hours, the exit is the stromal vascular fraction (SVF), which has concentrated mesenchymal SCs as well as other cells and components that aid the MSCs' action. Depending on the veterinarian, the SVF can be extracted on site. In this case, the dog will be treated on the same day (in the clinic where I work, the processing is done internally). The majority of vets send the fat off for processing and the SVF is sent back for treatment on the second day after harvest. At this point it is given to the dog.

Usually there are many cells from the fatty tissue for multiple treatments, depending on the condition being treated. The SVF required for initial treatment is slightly diluted in sterile saline and divided to account for the number of injections to be performed. Platelet rich plasma (PRP, more on this below) is usually added to the SVF to further support the stem cell response. We usually save a small portion of SVF to be given intravenously. Extra fat, containing cells for future treatments, is sent for processing and the cells are cryogenically frozen.

In most cases, the dog will be sedated for injection. If you've ever had an injection in a joint you know that these are very painful and that it is much easier for the dog to be sedated. If MSCs are administered via IV only, sedation is usually not required. Once the injections are complete, the sedation will reverse and the dog can go home after a full recovery.

Future treatments are easier because fat and cell extraction is already complete. In our office, the dog comes to the office in the morning and has taken blood for PRP. The blood is processed to obtain the PRP, while thawed SVF goes through steps to wash and activate the MSCs. Once both components are made, they are administered as described above.

With joint injections, the first few days after treatment can be more painful than before treatment. The time it takes to see positive results varies from dog to dog. The average is a matter of weeks, but in some cases we've had positive results within a few days and sometimes it takes a month or two.

PLATELET PLASMA

Many veterinarians accompany the MSCs with platelet-rich plasma. This substance amplifies the signals from the injured or damaged area and directs the MSCs to that area. It helps to get the most out of the MSCs in use. PRP also uses the dog's tissue in this case, blood drawn on the day of treatment. It is processed using a series of separation steps to concentrate platelets and a number of growth factors present in the blood, and then the PRP is activated. It is combined with the SVF and administered with it when injected.

In our office, we sometimes use PRP outside of SC therapy to promote healing. The most striking example of effectiveness I've seen was when two dogs had TPLO (Tibia Plateau Leveling Osteotomy) surgery for a broken ACL on the same day. Both had previously had TPLO surgery on the other hind leg. Upon completion of the procedure, PRP was administered to the surgical site. According to the owners and Dr. Hagler, both dogs had shorter recovery times compared to their previous surgeries and used the surgical legs much earlier.

RISKS

Stem cell therapy is very safe. The MSCs used for therapy are autologous, meaning they come from the same dog who will receive them, so there is no risk of rejection. There are essentially no side effects from the treatment itself. The treatment process is rooted in the animal's biology and uses the natural healing powers of its own cells.

The greatest risk with therapy is general anesthesia, which is required to surgically remove some fat from the dog. There is always some risk involved in surgical procedures that require anesthesia, especially in older or frail dogs. In addition, there is some risk of infection as injections are often given into joints. To reduce this risk, injections of MSC are often accompanied by a small dose of antibiotic.

Rocco's transformation

Ten year old Rocco goes for a walk two days after his second stem cell treatment. He has seen great benefits from stem cell therapy, including less pain, more energy, improvements in his muscles, and a reduction in this drug.

Rocco is a 10 year old black Labrador Retriever. He had his first stem cell treatment thirteen months ago, during which he treated a number of problems including arthritis in both hips and a neurological problem that resulted in weakness in his rear end. The pain from his hips combined with the weakness of the rear end made it increasingly difficult for him to move. Rocco's owner Vicki says he would crouch to urinate and would not be able to get up.

He also had chewing myositis an autoimmune disease that causes the muscles involved in chewing to become inflamed and very painful. Rocco couldn't open his mouth without terrible pain. In addition, he had neurological problems affecting his head and neck that resulted in laryngeal paralysis. He had so many neurological symptoms that it was difficult to make a definitive diagnosis.

Before his conditions hindered him, Rocco was an active dog with a lot of vigor. He loved his long walks in a local park. He let his family know he was ready for a walk by putting his leash in his mouth. He caught treats that were thrown at him. And he jumped on the couch to hang out with his family. Vicki describes the heartache of seeing Rocco so painful that he couldn't pick up his leash or jump to the couch, and when they got to their favorite spot, Rocco didn't get out of the car. With the loss of the muscles in his head, he looked very different, as if his eyes were sunken. She describes him like a skeleton. Rocco was given medication for pain and prednisone for myositis, but got little relief. Vicki was afraid that this would be the end of Rocco's life.

You and Dr. Hagler decided to try stem cell therapy and the results were amazing. Rocco received injections in both hips, intervertebral injections in his lumbar and sacral spine, and stem cells via IV for the head, jaw, and neck. The day after his treatment, he was cheerful and happy. He returned to his usual exuberance about his daily walks. And his kaumyositis and larynx paralysis resolved and have not been recognizable since then.

While Rocco wasn't exactly a target of his SC therapy, he also had a long history of digestive problems. Despite years of trying to identify and treat the problem, nothing seemed to be helping. Rocco had diarrhea about every other week. He has not had an episode of diarrhea since his SC treatment. In addition to the success of the targeted symptoms, this was an unexpected and wonderful surprise!

Rocco was just returning for follow-up treatment when Vicki noticed that some signs of his hip pain and weakness at the rear end were returning. Again he received injections in his hips and between the vertebrae and stem cells over IV. The next day, Vicki described him as "super spunky" for the walk they had just been on. She describes Rocco's experience as "like a miracle" and is so grateful to have her lucky dog back. She notes that Rocco's improved health has been therapeutic for the whole family.

EXPECTATIONS

As mentioned earlier, SC therapy has been the most widely used in the treatment of arthritis and has resulted in significant improvements in pain levels, range of motion and functional mobility. Our practice has also used it in many cases of hip or elbow dysplasia, with excellent results in very young dogs with severe dysplasia.

One example is Tugboat, a chocolate laboratory that was weakened by elbow dysplasia when it was only four months old. Its owner tried everything including costly surgery, pain medication, therapy, etc.

In search of other options, she decided on SC therapy. After treatment, Tugboat is a different dog! He used to find it hard to stand walking, but now he walks for over an hour a day and plays on the beach. He comes in for repeat treatments about every six months if he shows signs of pain and reduced mobility and soon returns to normal activities.

MSCs are also used to treat damaged tendons and ligaments. SC therapy is helpful for partial tears, but not when the ligament is completely torn. There just isn't enough material to bridge a full crack. In the clinic where I work, we have used SCs to treat degenerative myelopathy with good results. There have been a number of small studies (n = 10 or less in most cases) that found that SC therapy improved the condition of dogs with arthritis, dysplasia, disc disease, perianal fistulas, inflammatory bowel disease, and keratoconjunctivitis sicca. 3

Some dogs show improvement very early after treatment; others take longer and the degree of improvement varies. Dr. However, Hagler says, "I've never seen a dog that hasn't improved."

Overall, the literature3 agrees that SC therapy is effective, although many studies or reports based on practitioners' data and experiences are anecdotal. Few clinical studies have been completed, although the companies whose technology will be used to extract the SCs have studies in the works.

THE FUTURE OF STEM CELL THERAPY

The exciting opportunities for future directions in stem cell therapy mainly concern the source of cells used to treat patients. Currently, the dog being treated must be the source of the cells used for treatment otherwise the treatment would be legally considered a drug and must first be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A stem cell bank would be of great help in dogs lacking enough fat to harvest or in dogs too frail to undergo general anesthesia for surgical fat removal. Just as dogs can be universal blood recipients, they can also safely receive stem cells obtained from another dog. One study even found that MSCs can be extracted from human adipose tissue and transplanted into dogs.4 (Does anyone have any fat you'd like to donate?)

Transplanting MSCs from another animal would be a game changer. There are cases when the dog with bank cells no longer needs them, either because they stopped therapy or because they passed away. It would be ideal if the dog's owner could make the bank cells available to other dogs. This is not currently legal.

It is possible to grow MSCs (but not support cells) in a laboratory to increase their numbers and reduce the need to harvest fat more than once. A company is doing that now.

Getting started with stem cells

You may think this sounds like something that could help your dog. Here are the next steps.

The first is to find a veterinarian who offers SC therapy. All veterinarians offering this therapy work with one of two companies that provide the equipment, reagents, processing and storage of cells: VetStem Biopharma and MediVet Biologics. The details of the service offered depend to some extent on the company with which the veterinarian's office works.

VetStem has been providing SC therapy for animals for a long time. VetStem is currently cultivating the MSCs of the beast, but MediVet is not, although they are working in that direction. VetStem does all the processing in its own facility.

MediVet offers training, equipment and reagents for veterinary clinics that process cells internally. Not all hospitals that work with MediVet choose it. In these cases MediVet takes over the processing. The nice thing about the processing on site is that the fat and the initial therapy can be carried out on the same day. If you have to travel a distance to a veterinarian for SC therapy, it is certainly not ideal to make several trips from one another within a few days for initial therapy.

PRP can also be carried out on site. VetStem does not include PRP in its SC therapy.

Both companies save SCs for future use and can bank cells before treatment is required. If your dog is anesthetized for some other procedure such as a spay or neuter, your veterinarian may harvest fat at this point and send it to the company so they can extract and freeze the cells your dog may need for future use. If you have the forethought (and the money) to do this, it could eliminate the need to have your dog undergo fat loss surgery later when they may be less able to tolerate general anesthesia. When I'm ready to have my dog neutered, I probably will.

Depending on where you are, the choice of company to use for SC processing can be easily narrowed down for you by the veterinarians offering SC therapy in your area. Ask your veterinarian. You can also check the VetStem and MediVet websites. They can put you in touch with one of their partner veterinarians in your area.

PRE-PROCEDURE CONSIDERATIONS

In some cases, SC therapy is contraindicated. Because of the proliferative and immunomodulatory effects of SCs, therapy should not be given in dogs known or suspected of having cancer. Dogs with an active infection should also not receive therapy.

SC therapy may also not be an option for dogs that are lacking enough fat (until there is a stem cell bank for dogs!) Or dogs that are too frail to withstand general anesthesia.

Stem cell therapy isn't cheap; The cost of initial treatment, including harvesting fat, is near $ 2,500. Follow-up treatments can cost anywhere from $ 500 to $ 1,000. These numbers vary from vet to vet. The good news is that many pet insurance policies now cover SC therapy. Even without insurance, it's much cheaper and less invasive than more drastic measures like joint replacements.

SC therapy is not a panacea and to achieve the greatest benefit requires basic, but sometimes overlooked, measures. It is important to support the health of the entire dog: keep its nails trimmed so that they do not interfere with walking. Feed them a good quality diet that supports overall health. Take precautions to prevent infection after surgery. Keep up to date with follow-up treatments in a timely manner to minimize the dog's pain or dysfunction. Supporting the general health of the dog and providing quality care are essential to getting the most out of treatment.

Joanne Osburn is a stem cell technician at Mt. Diablo Veterinary Medical Center in Lafayette, CA. After spending nine years as a biology technician in a government laboratory, she is excited to work in the veterinary field where she can help improve the lives of pets. She lives in San Francisco Bay with her husband Paul and their super stupid dog Guster.

References

1 Fortier LA, Travis AJ. "Stem cells in veterinary medicine." Stem Cell Research & Therapy 2011; 2: 9.

2 Markoski MM. "Advances in the Use of Stem Cells in Veterinary Medicine: From Basic Research to Clinical Practice." Scientifica 2016; 2016: 4516920.

3 Hoffman AM, Dow SW. "Brief overview: Stem cell experiments with models for pets." Stem cells 2016; 34: 1709- 1729.

4 Lee SH, Setyawan EMN, Choi YB et al. "Clinical Evaluation After Human Fat Stem Cell Transplantation in Dogs." J Vet Sci 2018; 19 (3): 452- 461.

Original post:
Stem cell remedy in dogs | Paw Dog Lovers

Persistence Market Research (PMR) has published a new research report on canine stem cell therapy. The report has been titled, Canine Stem Cell Therapy Market: Global Industry Analysis 2016 and Forecast 20172026.Veterinary research has been used in regenerative and adult stem cell therapy andhas gained significant traction over the last decade.

Canine stem cell therapy products are identified to have gained prominence over the past five years, and according to the aforementioned research report, the market for canine stem cell therapy will expand at a moderate pace over the next few years.

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Though all animal stem cells are not approved by FDA, veterinary stem-cell manufacturers and university researchers have been adopting various strategies in order to meet regulatory approvals, and streamline and expedite the review-and-approval process. The vendors in the market are incessantly concentrating on research and development to come up with advanced therapy, in addition to acquiring patents.

In September 2017, VetStem Biopharma, Inc. received European patent granted to the University of Pittsburgh and VetStem received full license of the patent then. This patent will eventually provide the coverage for the ongoing commercial and product development programs of VetStem and might be also available for licensing to other companies who are rather interested in this field.

The other companies operating in the global market for canine stem cell therapy are VETherapy Corporation, Aratana Therapeutics, Inc., Regeneus Ltd, Magellan Stem Cells, Animal Cell Therapies, Inc., and Medrego, among others.

According to the Persistence Market Research report, the globalcanine stem cell therapy marketis expected to witness a CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period 2017-2026. In 2017, the market was valued at US$ 151.4 Mn and is expected to rise to a valuation of US$ 218.2 Mn by the end of 2026.

Burgeoning Prevalence of Chronic Diseases in Dogs to Benefit Market

Adipose Stem Cells (ASCs) are the most prevalent and in-demand adult stem cells owing to their safety profile, ease of harvest, and use and the ability to distinguish into multiple cell lineages. Most early clinical research is focused on adipose stem cells to treat various chronic diseases such as arthritis, tendonitis, lameness, and atopic dermatitis in dogs.

A large area of focus in veterinary medicine is treatment of osteoarthritis in dogs, which becomes more prevalent with age. Globally, more than 20% dogs are suffering from arthritis, which is a common form of canine joint and musculoskeletal disease. Out of those 20%, merely 5% seem to receive the treatment.

However, elbow dysplasia in canine registered a prevalence rate of 64%, converting it into an alarming disease condition to be treated on priority. Thereby, with the growing chronic disorders in canine, the demand for stem cell therapy is increasing at a significant pace.

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Expensive Nature of Therapy to Obstruct Growth Trajectory

Expensive nature and limited access to canine stem cell therapy has demonstrated to be a chief hindrance forestalling its widespread adoption. The average tier II and tier III veterinary hospitals lack the facilities and expertise to perform stem cell procedures, which necessitates the referral to a specialty vet hospital with expertise veterinarians.

A trained veterinary physician charges high treatment cost associated with stem cell therapy for dogs. Generally, dog owners have pet insurance that typically covers maximum cost associated with steam cell therapy to treat the initial injury but for the succeeding measures in case of retreatment, the costs are not covered under the pet insurance. The stem cell therapy is thus cost-prohibitive for a large number of pet owners, which highlights a major restraint to the market growth. Stem cell therapy is still in its developmental stage and a positive growth outcome for the market cannot be confirmed yet.

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To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.

Our client success stories feature a range of clients from Fortune 500 companies to fast-growing startups. PMRs collaborative environment is committed to building industry-specific solutions by transforming data from multiple streams into a strategic asset.

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Positive Disruption In The Demand For To Take The Canine Stem Cell Therapy Market To US$ 218.2 Mn In 2026 - Scientect

Muscle loss

When we reach the age of 50 or 60 our muscles start losing grip on our bones and start shredding. And this process is known as Sarcopenia. A study on mice at the University of Michigan shows that these kinds of muscle losses can be prevented and we may also get to know the reason why it occurs.

During the course of aging the progressive loss of muscle mass is called Sarcopenia. And this kind of muscle loss may be a reason for various diseases or age-related problems such as Osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease, and cancer too. This disease can also affect the overall functioning of the body.

According to Carlos Aguilar U-M assistant professor at Biomedical Engineering. This research was focused mainly on the functioning of the stem cell. The researcher took two sets of mice a young and an old one to get different stages of muscle injury.

Research mainly focused on the use of bioinformatics analysis of the packaging of stem cells. The focus was on Chromatin of DNA which is present in the nucleus of stem cells. They observed differences in the ways of protein binding when there is no access to Chromatin. The researchers found out that how one transcription factor could block the protein binding ability of the other.

Scientists found out that if they will silence the activity of that transcription factor then they would achieve the unachievable, they could restore the ability of cells to repair the old cells and they think this would restore your youth.

Scientists believe that by subsiding the activity of that transcription factor they are able to restore the ability of older cells to rebuild and restore their older forms. As the chromatin changes every time you age, scientists are working to repair that genome to work in a way in which it could extend our lifespan.

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A Study on Mice reveals that Humans can Attain their Youth Again. Scientists of University of Michigan is ... - Gizmo Posts 24

When Ralph Fisher,a Texas cattle rancher, set eyes on one of the worlds first cloned calves in August 1999, he didnt care what the scientists said: He knew it was his old Brahman bull, Chance, born again. About a year earlier, veterinarians at Texas A&M extracted DNA from one of Chances moles and used the sample to create a genetic double. Chance didnt live to meet his second self, but when the calf was born, Fisher christened him Second Chance, convinced he was the same animal.

Scientists cautioned Fisher that clones are more like twins than carbon copies: The two may act or even look different from one another. But as far as Fisher was concerned, Second Chance was Chance. Not only did they look identical from a certain distance, they behaved the same way as well. They ate with the same odd mannerisms; laid in the same spot in the yard. But in 2003, Second Chance attacked Fisher and tried to gore him with his horns. About 18 months later, the bull tossed Fisher into the air like an inconvenience and rammed him into the fence. Despite 80 stitches and a torn scrotum, Fisher resisted the idea that Second Chance was unlike his tame namesake,telling the radio program This American Life that I forgive him, you know?

In the two decades since Second Chance marked a genetic engineering milestone, cattle have secured a place on the front lines of biotechnology research. Today, scientists around the world are using cutting-edge technologies, fromsubcutaneous biosensorstospecialized food supplements, in an effort to improve safety and efficiency within the$385 billion global cattle meat industry. Beyond boosting profits, their efforts are driven by an imminent climate crisis, in which cattle play a significant role, and growing concern for livestock welfare among consumers.

Gene editing stands out as the most revolutionary of these technologies. Although gene-edited cattle have yet to be granted approval for human consumption, researchers say tools like Crispr-Cas9 could let them improve on conventional breeding practices and create cows that are healthier, meatier, and less detrimental to the environment. Cows are also beinggiven genesfrom the human immune system to create antibodies in the fight against Covid-19. (The genes of non-bovine livestock such as pigs and goats, meanwhile, have been hacked togrow transplantable human organsandproduce cancer drugs in their milk.)

But some experts worry biotech cattle may never make it out of the barn. For one thing, theres the optics issue: Gene editing tends to grab headlines for its role in controversial research and biotech blunders. Crispr-Cas9 is often celebrated for its potential to alter the blueprint of life, but that enormous promise can become a liability in the hands of rogue and unscrupulous researchers, tempting regulatory agencies to toughen restrictions on the technologys use. And its unclear how eager the public will be to buy beef from gene-edited animals. So the question isnt just if the technology will work in developing supercharged cattle, but whether consumers and regulators will support it.

Cattle are catalysts for climate change. Livestockaccount for an estimated 14.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, of which cattle are responsible for about two thirds, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). One simple way to address the issue is to eat less meat. But meat consumption is expected to increasealong with global population and average income. A 2012reportby the FAO projected that meat production will increase by 76 percent by 2050, as beef consumption increases by 1.2 percent annually. And the United States isprojected to set a recordfor beef production in 2021, according to the Department of Agriculture.

For Alison Van Eenennaam, an animal geneticist at the University of California, Davis, part of the answer is creating more efficient cattle that rely on fewer resources. According to Van Eenennaam, the number of dairy cows in the United Statesdecreasedfrom around 25 million in the 1940s to around 9 million in 2007, while milk production has increased by nearly 60 percent. Van Eenennaam credits this boost in productivity to conventional selective breeding.

You dont need to be a rocket scientist or even a mathematician to figure out that the environmental footprint or the greenhouse gases associated with a glass of milk today is about one-third of that associated with a glass of milk in the 1940s, she says. Anything you can do to accelerate the rate of conventional breeding is going to reduce the environmental footprint of a glass of milk or a pound of meat.

Modern gene-editing tools may fuel that acceleration. By making precise cuts to DNA, geneticists insert or remove naturally occurring genes associated with specific traits. Some experts insist that gene editing has the potential to spark a new food revolution.

Jon Oatley, a reproductive biologist at Washington State University, wants to use Crispr-Cas9 to fine tune the genetic code of rugged, disease-resistant, and heat-tolerant bulls that have been bred to thrive on the open range. By disabling a gene called NANOS2, he says he aims to eliminate the capacity for a bull to make his own sperm, turning the recipient into a surrogate for sperm-producing stem cells from more productive prized stock. These surrogate sires, equipped with sperm from prize bulls, would then be released into range herds that are often genetically isolated and difficult to access, and the premium genes would then be transmitted to their offspring.

Furthermore, surrogate sires would enable ranchers to introduce desired traits without having to wrangle their herd into one place for artificial insemination, says Oatley. He envisions the gene-edited bulls serving herds in tropical regions like Brazil, the worldslargestbeef exporter and home to around 200 million of the approximately 1.5 billion head of cattle on Earth.

Brazils herds are dominated by Nelore, a hardy breed that lacks the carcass and meat quality of breeds like Angus but can withstand high heat and humidity. Put an Angus bull on a tropical pasture and hes probably going to last maybe a month before he succumbs to the environment, says Oatley, while a Nelore bull carrying Angus sperm would have no problem with the climate.

The goal, according to Oatley, is to introduce genes from beefier bulls into these less efficient herds, increasing their productivity and decreasing their overall impact on the environment. We have shrinking resources, he says, and need new, innovative strategies for making those limited resources last.

Oatley has demonstrated his technique in mice but faces challenges with livestock. For starters, disabling NANOS2 does not definitively prevent the surrogate bull from producing some of its own sperm. And while Oatley has shown he can transplant sperm-producing cells into surrogate livestock, researchers have not yet published evidence showing that the surrogatesproduceenough quality sperm to support natural fertilization. How many cells will you need to make this bull actually fertile? asks Ina Dobrinski, a reproductive biologist at the University of Calgary who helped pioneer germ cell transplantation in large animals.

But Oatleys greatest challenge may be one shared with others in the bioengineered cattle industry: overcoming regulatory restrictions and societal suspicion. Surrogate sires would be classified as gene-edited animals by the Food and Drug Administration, meaning theyd face a rigorous approval process before their offspring could be sold for human consumption. But Oatley maintains that if his method is successful, the sperm itself would not be gene-edited, nor would the resulting offspring. The only gene-edited specimens would be the surrogate sires, which act like vessels in which the elite sperm travel.

Even so, says Dobrinski, Thats a very detailed difference and Im not sure how that will work with regulatory and consumer acceptance.

In fact, American attitudes towards gene editing have been generally positive when the modification is in the interest of animal welfare. Many dairy farmers prefer hornless cows horns can inflict damage when wielded by 1,500-pound animals so they often burn them off in apainful processusing corrosive chemicals and scalding irons. Ina study published last yearin the journal PLOS One, researchers found that most Americans are willing to consume food products from cows genetically modified to be hornless.

Still, experts say several high-profile gene-editing failures in livestock andhumansin recent years may lead consumers to consider new biotechnologies to be dangerous and unwieldy.

In 2014, a Minnesota startup called Recombinetics, a company with which Van Eenennaams lab has collaborated, created a pair of cross-bred Holstein bulls using the gene-editing tool TALENs, a precursor to Crispr-Cas9, making cuts to the bovine DNA and altering the genes to prevent the bulls from growing horns. Holstein cattle, which almost always carry horned genes, are highly productive dairy cows, so using conventional breeding to introduce hornless genes from less productive breeds can compromise the Holsteins productivity. Gene editing offered a chance to introduce only the genes Recombinetics wanted. Their hope was to use this experiment to prove that milk from the bulls female progeny was nutritionally equivalent to milk from non-edited stock. Such results could inform future efforts to make Holsteins hornless but no less productive.

The experiment seemed to work. In 2015, Buri and Spotigy were born. Over the next few years, the breakthrough received widespread media coverage, and when Buris hornless descendant graced thecover of Wired magazine in April 2019, it did so as the ostensible face of the livestock industrys future.

But early last year, a bioinformatician at the FDA ran a test on Buris genome and discovered an unexpected sliver of genetic code that didnt belong. Traces of bacterial DNA called a plasmid, which Recombinetics used to edit the bulls genome, had stayed behind in the editing process, carrying genes linked to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. After the agency publishedits findings, the media reaction was swift and fierce: FDA finds a surprise in gene-edited cattle: antibiotic-resistant, non-bovine DNA,readone headline. Part cow, part bacterium?readanother.

Recombinetics has since insisted that the leftover plasmid DNA was likely harmless and stressed that this sort of genetic slipup is not uncommon.

Is there any risk with the plasmid? I would say theres none, says Tad Sonstegard, president and CEO of Acceligen, a Recombinetics subsidiary. We eat plasmids all the time, and were filled with microorganisms in our body that have plasmids. In hindsight, Sonstegard says his teams only mistake was not properly screening for the plasmid to begin with.

While the presence of antibiotic-resistant plasmid genes in beef probably does not pose a direct threat to consumers, according to Jennifer Kuzma, a professor of science and technology policy and co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University, it does raise the possible risk of introducing antibiotic-resistant genes into the microflora of peoples digestive systems. Although unlikely, organisms in the gut could integrate those genes into their own DNA and, as a result, proliferate antibiotic resistance, making it more difficult to fight off bacterial diseases.

The lesson that I think is learned there is that science is never 100 percent certain, and that when youre doing a risk assessment, having some humility in your technology product is important, because you never know what youre going to discover further down the road, she says. In the case of Recombinetics. I dont think there was any ill intent on the part of the researchers, but sometimes being very optimistic about your technology and enthusiastic about it causes you to have blinders on when it comes to risk assessment.

The FDA eventually clarified its results, insisting that the study was meant only to publicize the presence of the plasmid, not to suggest the bacterial DNA was necessarily dangerous. Nonetheless, the damage was done. As a result of the blunder,a plan was quashedforRecombinetics to raise an experimental herd in Brazil.

Backlash to the FDA study exposed a fundamental disagreement between the agency and livestock biotechnologists. Scientists like Van Eenennaam, who in 2017 received a $500,000 grant from the Department of Agriculture to study Buris progeny, disagree with the FDAs strict regulatory approach to gene-edited animals. Typical GMOs aretransgenic, meaning they have genes from multiple different species, but modern gene-editing techniques allow scientists to stay roughly within the confines of conventional breeding, adding and removing traits that naturally occur within the species.

That said, gene editing is not yet free from errors and sometimes intended changes result in unintended alterations, notes Heather Lombardi, division director of animal bioengineering and cellular therapies at the FDAs Center for Veterinary Medicine. For that reason, the FDA remains cautious.

Theres a lot out there that I think is still unknown in terms of unintended consequences associated with using genome-editing technology, says Lombardi. Were just trying to get an understanding of what the potential impact is, if any, on safety.

Bhanu Telugu, an animal scientist at the University of Maryland and president and chief science officer at the agriculture technology startup RenOVAte Biosciences, worries that biotech companies willmigrate their experimentsto countries with looser regulatory environments. Perhaps more pressingly, he says strict regulation requiring long and expensive approval processes may incentivize these companies to work only on traits that are most profitable, rather than those that may have the greatest benefit for livestock and society, such as animal well-being and the environment.

What company would be willing to spend $20 million on potentially alleviating heat stress at this point? he asks.

On a windywinter afternoon, Raluca Mateescu leaned against a fence post at the University of Floridas Beef Teaching Unit while a Brahman heifer sniffed inquisitively at the air and reached out its tongue in search of unseen food. Since 2017, Mateescu, an animal geneticist at the university, has been part of a team studying heat and humidity tolerance in breeds like Brahman and Brangus (a mix between Brahman and Angus cattle). Her aim is to identify the genetic markers that contribute to a breeds climate resilience, markers that might lead to more precise breeding and gene-editing practices.

In the South, Mateescu says, heat and humidity are a major problem. That poses a stress to the animals because theyre selected for intense production to produce milk or grow fast and produce a lot of muscle and fat.

Like Nelore cattle in South America, Brahman are well-suited for tropical and subtropical climates, but their high tolerance for heat and humidity comes at the cost of lower meat quality than other breeds. Mateescu and her team have examined skin biopsies and found that relatively large sweat glands allow Brahman to better regulate their internal body temperature. With funding from the USDAs National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the researchers now plan to identify specific genetic markers that correlate with tolerance to tropical conditions.

If were selecting for animals that produce more without having a way to cool off, were going to run into trouble, she says.

There are other avenues in biotechnology beyond gene editing that may help reduce the cattle industrys footprint. Although still early in their development,lab-cultured meatsmay someday undermine todays beef producers by offering consumers an affordable alternative to the conventionally grown product, without the animal welfare and environmental concerns that arise from eating beef harvested from a carcass.

Other biotech techniques hope to improve the beef industry without displacing it. In Switzerland, scientists at a startup called Mootral areexperimenting with a garlic-based food supplementdesigned to alter the bovine digestive makeup to reduce the amount of methane they emit. Studies have shown the product to reduce methane emissions by about 20 percent in meat cattle, according to The New York Times.

In order to adhere to the Paris climate agreement, Mootrals owner, Thomas Hafner, believes demand will grow as governments require methane reductions from their livestock producers. We are working from the assumption that down the line every cow will be regulated to be on a methane reducer, he told The New York Times.

Meanwhile, a farm science research institute in New Zealand, AgResearch, hopes to target methane production at its source by eliminating methanogens, the microbes thought to be responsible for producing the greenhouse gas in ruminants. The AgResearch team isattempting to developa vaccine to alter the cattle guts microbial composition, according to the BBC.

Genomic testing may also allow cattle producers to see what genes calves carry before theyre born, according to Mateescu, enabling producers to make smarter breeding decisions and select for the most desirable traits, whether it be heat tolerance, disease resistance, or carcass weight.

Despite all these efforts, questions remain as to whether biotech can ever dramatically reduce the industrys emissions or afford humane treatment to captive animals in resource-intensive operations. To many of the industrys critics, including environmental and animal rights activists, the very nature of the practice of rearing livestock for human consumption erodes the noble goal of sustainable food production. Rather than revamp the industry, these critics suggest alternatives such as meat-free diets to fulfill our need for protein. Indeed,data suggestsmany young consumers are already incorporating plant-based meats into their meals.

Ultimately, though, climate change may be the most pressing issue facing the cattle industry, according to Telugu of the University of Maryland, which received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve productivity and adaptability in African cattle. We cannot breed our way out of this, he says.

Dyllan Furness is a Florida-based science and technology journalist. His work has appeared in Quartz, OneZero, and PBS, among other outlets. Follow him on Twitter @dyllonline

This article was originally published at Undark and has been republished here with permission. Follow Undark on Twitter @undarkmag

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CRISPR cows could boost sustainable meat production, but regulations and wary consumers stand in the way - Genetic Literacy Project

Stem cells are characterized as forerunner cells that have the ability to self-restore and to generate multiple cell types. They have two interesting properties that empower them to do this:

First and foremost, they can divide again and again to create new cells. Also, as they divide, they can change into different types of cells that make up the body.

There are three different types of stem cells. One of them is the embryonic stem cells which supply new cells for an embryo as it grows and develops into a baby. They are pluripotent, which implies that they can change into any cell in the body.

Another one is called adult stem cells. They supply new cells as an organism grows to replace damaged cells. They are multipotent, which implies they can just change into certain cells in the body, for instance:

Epithelial stem cells can only replace the various kinds of cells in our skin and hair.

The last one is called the induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPS cells. They are cultured in the lab by taking normal adult cells, like skin or blood cells, and redesigning them to become stem cells. The fact that they are pluripotent means they can also change into any cell type.

Research into the use of stem cells to repair bones, ligaments, tendons, spinal cord injuries and in the treatment of kidney and liver disease, cardiomyopathies, and certain inflammatory diseases of the skin and gut is ongoing, However, stem cell therapy has been commonly used in the treatment of osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia in pets such as dogs and cats.

The procedure is the same in most clinics that perform stem cell therapy for pets. Generally, once you visit the veterinary doctor, they have to review the condition of your pet (including prognosis) with stem cell therapy. Your pet would be intubated and properly observed and monitored during the procedure.

The stem cell therapy treatment should average three to four hours. An intravenous catheter would be used to administer pet anesthesia and up to two tablespoons of fat are removed from the shoulder or abdomen of the pet. The stem cells are separated from the fat within 48 hours of extraction, and it is ready for infusion into the affected area. Asides from transforming into any cell type, stem cells block the formation of inflammatory molecules and scar tissue, and they signal the body to produce pain-reducing substances.

Improvement is usually noticed within 14 days of treatment. The risk of rejection is eliminated because these pets receive their own cells.

Although it is better for your pets to receive treatment within 60 days of injury, stem cell therapy can also be helpful in improving long term injuries.

There are lots of affordable pet clinics that perform stem cell therapy for pets. If your dog is in need of a stem cell therapy or you are aware of dogs in your neighborhood in need of one, all you need to do is to type the words, dog stem cell therapy near me and include your location using any of your favorite search engines.

Websites, clinic names, and contact details should pop up and from there you can easily pick the one that appeals most to you.

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What are stem cells and why are they important for pets ...

ABCGallant Stem Cells on 'Shark Tank'.

Tonight, Gallant Stem Cell Therapy For Dogs will be featured on an all-new episode of Shark Tank.

The company was founded by Aaron Hirschhorn, and is the first and only non-invasive animal stem cell collection method available today.

Interested in learning more about Gallant Stem Cell Bank? Read on.

Gallant on Shark Tank.

Hirschhorn is the founder and former CEO of DogVacay. The company was launched as an app in 2013 and merged with Rover.com in 2017. It eventually went on to become a $1 billion pet services marketplace.

According to Business Wire, Gallants research team is developing the first-of-its-kind biotechnologies and treatment methods. It is committed to spending millions on R&D pursuing both autologous therapies, which use a dogs own stem cells, and allogenic therapies, which any dog can use, at a fraction of the cost of currently available therapies.

The Gallant team consists of veterinarians, scientists, and entrepreneurs who hold themselves and their lab to the absolute highest standard. Today, they are working with VDA as part of the Veterinary Innovation Program to develop therapies.

A few years ago, Aaron suffered a major back injury. He was forced to undergo stem cell treatment, which worked well. The News Crunch writes, Aaron, being an ardent dog lover wondered why this cutting-edge medical technology of stem cell transplants cannot be applied to dogs.

The company was officially created in 2018. In August 2019, Gallant raised $7 million in investments.

In a statement obtained by Tech Crunch, Hirschhorn said, I struggled with debilitating chronic back pain for more than a decade, leaving me incapable of doing activities I loved, until regenerative medicine successfully cured my condition At the same time, I watched my dog Rocky suffer from arthritis so painful that she couldnt walk. I knew there had to be a better way to treat and heal our pets, which sparked the beginning of Gallant. We are on a mission to keep our pets happier and healthier through the power of regenerative medicine.

GettyKevin OLeary, Lori Greiner and Daymond John on Shark Tank

Gallant works with your personal veterinarian. They collect your pets stem cells so that down the road, [they] can help treat the most common health problems your dog may face.

According to Gallant, a dogs own stem cells have helped with a number of illnesses including osteoarthritis, atopic dermatitis, torn ligaments and chronic dry eye.

Dr. Black, chief scientific officer at Gallant, said in a statement, In my experience with clinical trials and evaluating dogs with debilitating arthritis, Ive seen first hand how cell therapy can change lives Im committed to developing therapies that dramatically improve the quality of life for dogs.

If you head over to the Gallant website, youll find that the company is waiving their $395 processing fee in honor of their Shark Tank debut. They are also offering special pricing a $595 Lifetime Stem Cell Banking plan (typically, this costs $990). Or a $95/year special Shark Tank pricing for the Annual Plan.

They write on their site, Gallant is at the forefront of science, working every day to advance the field of stem cell therapy. By partnering with Gallant, you can make regenerative medicine a part of your pups wellness plan making every (dog) year count.

The company reveals that most dogs begin entering senior age around 7. The effects of aging can be felt as early as 4. Most stem cells are lost over time due to aging, and the procedure to acquire those young stem cells is done young, while the puppy is spayed/neutered. Ahead of the dogs spay/neuter, Gallant connects with your vet to send them a collection kit. During the procedure, the vet then takes out the stem-cell rich reproductive tissue. Stem cells are then acquired and frozen in liquid nitrogen to preserve them. They can be sent to your vet when and if treatment is needed.

What typically happens to the reproductive tissue during a spay/neuter procedure? It is discarded. And its worth noting that traditional methods for injury and age-related conditions are expensive and can have harmful side effects.

GettyHosts Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, Kevin OLeary and Executive Producer Clay Newbill of Shark Tank speak onstage during the ABC portion of the 2013 Winter TCA Tour at Langham Hotel on January 10, 2013 in Pasadena, California.

In August, according to the LA Business Journal, two dozen investors contributed to a $7 million funding round. The names of those investors were not given.

Today, Gallant is based in Santa Monica. The company pays veterinarians a commission and encourages them to perform stem cell therapy. According to the site, vets could earn up to $200 to $500 per treatment.

In a nutshell, Gallant is like cord blood banking for your most loyal friend. But will the sharks bite when it comes to Gallant? Tune in tonight on ABC at 9pm ET/PT to find out.

READ NEXT: Dog Threads on Shark Tank: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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Gallant Stem Cell Bank on Shark Tank: 5 Fast Facts ...

Editor's note: Interviews were gathered last year and reflect that time period in the production process of Wild Type.

Do we need animals to make meat? What if we could grow cells outside the body of an animal to create the food on ourplates? Would we still farm them or would we embrace the alternative?

This is a new era of "clean meat" science, also called "cell-based", lab-grown, or "cultured" meat. It is a way to grow cells into meat rather than feed, breed, and kill the animals in the traditional sense. This is not to be confused with plant-based meats that source plant products in an attempt to reconstruct meat or genetically modifiedfoods that have had theirDNA modified.

"None of us really like the designation [of cell-based]," said Arye Elfenbein, a cardiologist and one of the founders of Wild Type.Every animal is a collection of cells, so the distinction is a bit nonsensical.

The terminology is notchiseled in stone but manybelieve thereis a need to rethink our food system, whether it be in the way we farm, the substitutes we use, or something novel altogether.By 2050, the global population will soar past 9 billion. Annual meat production is projected to rise to 470 million tonnes, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Fish accounted for around 17 percent of the world'sintake of animal protein in 2013.

The need for alternative food cultivation to reduce the burden on Earths resources is real, but how realistic is clean meat?

A handful of companies are working on making meat or seafood without animals, including Shiok Meats (shrimp) and Avant Meats (fish maw, or the swim bladders of large fish). There are plenty of benefits to be had as well as potential pitfalls to making it happen.

IFLScience talked with Wild Typefounders Ary Elfenbein and Justin Kolbeck in San Francisco as well as Liz Specht, a senior scientist with The Good Food Institute, on the future of the cell-based seafood industry.

Clean Meats And Seafood Poisoning

The mission behind cell-based seafood is to make the cleanest, most sustainable fish on the planet. Cleanest here means no mercury, no sea lice, no microplastics, no antibiotics all of which can be found to varying degrees in farmed and wild beasties.

"Likewise, it is sustainable because we dont have to take any fish out of the sea to make what were doing," said Kolbeck, who previously worked as a diplomat in food insecure regions. "People know that this is the healthiest fish you can find on the planet in that its free of those contaminants."

The overuse of antibiotics is contributingto resistance in humans, with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommending we reduce our antibiotic reliance in farmed animals. In its current stage, this is unlikely to be a problem for cultured meats. Currently, around abillion animalsare slaughtered every year for consumption.Illicit fishing alsoaccounts for around15 percent of the worlds total annual capture fisheries output, according to the FAO.

This is not to say lab-based seafood won't have its own sustainability challenges too, most notably in terms of energy use and scaling up to meet an ever-growing population.However, our current food habits are taking a toll on the planet in the form of habitat destruction, depletion of resources, vulnerable species, among others.

"A 2018 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that one-third of all fish stocks are being depleted faster than they can replenish. Another 60 percent of stocks are fished at the maximum sustainable level, leaving only 7percent of fish stocks that are underfished," according to a report by The Good Food Institute.

The Big Bang For Fish

To produce meat without an animal as a receptacle itself, you have to think backwards. Rather than feeding a full-grown creature, youre feeding a collections of cells to grow into the food on the fork. These muscle cells, fat cells, and other cell types grouped as connective tissue will slowly become the meat you ingest and absorb into your body.

"When you think of the world from the view of the cell, youre trying to encourage the cells to do the same thing it would within the animalsjust outside of the animal," saidElfenbein.

This requires some tinkering to get the environment right just as you would for, say, an animal in a wildlife park, except the enclosure here is steel tanks and petri dishes, not fences and gates. The food these cells love to gobble up are salts, sugars, and amino acids, as well as growth factors to help with proliferation and maturation; the scaffolding and temperature need to hit a happy medium too.

Now you may be wondering why this future of food isnt closer to reality when we have mini brains and 3d-printed body parts. The truth of the matter is that the science of mammalian research is simply further along than cold-blooded vertebrate animals.

"Most of the work on stem cells, molecular biology, and even tissue engineering has been grounded in mammalian research," said Elfenbein.

"Fish being so removed evolutionarily from mammals actually use different genes that then code for different proteins to do the same things in very different ways." Fish cells, for example, can grow in a wide variety of temperatures and tolerate low-oxygen concentrations because they dive deep into the ocean. Not so for mammalian cells.

"We are just learning how to take care of and nurture these cells," added Elfenbein. "Learning what these cells like and what they dont like. People have often likened it to taking care of a pet without being able to directly communicate with it."

What Are The Hurdles?

Cell-based seafoodis a new frontier being explored and with that comes unexpected stumbling blocks."There's still certainly a lot to be learned," said Elfenbein.

One of these is cooking the salmon, which has been presented to consumersraw so far. Wild Type salmon can be cooked, they say, but they're "working on the texture" at the moment.

"There are lots of technical hurdles here to overcome," saidPaul Mozdziak, a muscle biologist at North Carolina State University, to Nature. The challenges include better cell lines and scaffolding materials to shape the cells into tissue. Not only that but often research is kept in-house as trade secrets. There is also the question of labeling and what is required to tell consumers on packaging.

Some say they should just call it "meat", others "cell-based", others "clean meat" or "slaughter-free meat". Scalability for large-scale production is another hurdle Wild Type and other companies are considering. Wild Type has already created raw salmon in a variety of shapes and sizes, with one of their most popular dishes at an Oregon tasting event being the poke bowl and sushi.

"Today, our sushi costs about $200 for an 8 piece sushi roll when were ready to roll it out it needs to be a $6 sushi roll," said Kolbeck.

Others have noted that if it seems gross for meat to be grown in a lab, factory farming too has its considerable share of gross factor. Still, for now it's for the consumer to decide what they are comfortable with.

A literature review of consumer acceptancestudies up to 2017 from the USA, India, and China revealed men are more likely than women to accept cultured meat (except in China where it was reversed), as are those with more education and, surprisingly, those who are meat eaters rather than vegetarians. Overall, China and India were more accepting of clean meat than the USA. The demographic trends were compiled byChrisBryant, a doctoral researcher at the University of Bath.

"This is interesting because omnivores are of course eating vastly more meat than vegetarians (even assuming some vegetarians are less strict than others), and men typically eat about twice as much meat as women, so the groups that are consuming the most meat are the most receptive to cell-based meat," said Specht from The Good Food Institute, to IFLScience.

Some of thechallenges in developingtissues that resemble muscle rather than ground meat may help provide insights further down the line fortissue engineering for regenerative medicine. "Cell-based meat actually offers a much easier task than producing, say, a regenerated organ for transplantation: cell-based muscle tissue doesn't need to be functional it simply needs to have approximately the right structure and therefore texture," said Specht.

"The good news is that researchers can leverage the vast scientific literature and new technologies (faster sequencing, better characterization methods, etc.) to fill in the knowledge gaps for cell culture of seafood-relevant species much more quickly than the time it took to develop these tools and knowledge for mammalian cells," added Specht.

Is it Vegan?

Clean meat is still meat, so it is not vegan in that sense of the word. However, for vegans who avoid meat for health, environmental, or ethical reasons, clean meat could be considered a "vegan option" because there is no sentient animal involved in the production.

"Before weve only had animal or non-animal and now we have animal but not made from an animal, so what is that?" asked Kolbeck. "I think the classic definitions and categories may need to evolve a little bit to be more nuanced."

In theory, the team say they could replicate the nutritional profile of the meat to match that of the original animal,whicharea rich source of proteins andessential amino acids, fats, vitamins (D, A and B), and minerals, particularly if eaten whole.

"There are several research gaps that exist for marine cell culture, alongside several opportunities that make these research gaps worth addressing," writean unrelated team ina recent paper in Frontiers in Sustianable Food Systems."With growing interest in cellular agriculture as a means to produce meat, milk, eggs, and other animal proteins from cell cultures, and with the rapid intensification of aquaculture systems, the time is right to investigate the production of seafood without marine animals."

Continue reading here:
Do We Need Animals To Make Meat? - IFLScience

CALGARY -- New research at the University of Calgary has taken a step toward understanding how skin heals, which could lead to drug treatments to improve healing.

We identified a specific population of progenitor cells that reside within the dermis, the deep connective tissue of the skin," said Jeff Biernaskie, a professor of stem cell biology in the U of C faculty of veterinary medicine (UCVM) and the Calgary Firefighters Burn Treatment Society chair in skin regeneration and wound healing.

"Progenitor cells are unique in that they can undergo cell division and generate many new cells to either maintain or repair tissues."

The new study, led by Biernaskie and published in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell, was co-led by Dr. Sepideh Abbasi, Sarthak Sinha and Dr. Elodie Labit.

The intensive, five-year study offers new knowledge on why specific dermal cells can regenerate new skin, rather than scar tissue.

According to the news release, genomics techniques were used to profile thousands of cells at different times after injury, followed by the research team comparing scar-forming versus regenerative areas within skin wounds.

Remarkably, we found that although these cells come from the same cellular origin, different microenvironments within the wound activate entirely different sets of genes," said Biernaskie. "Meaning, the signals found within regenerative zones of the wound promote re-activation of genes that are typically engaged during skin development.

"Whereas, in scar-forming zones, these pro-regenerative programs are absent or suppressed, and scar-forming programs dominate."

With these findings, the research team was able to show that its possible to modify genetic ways that control skin regeneration.

What we've shown is that you can alter the wound environment with drugs, or modify the genetics of these progenitor cells directly, and both are sufficient to change their behaviour during wound healing, said Biernaskie.

"And that can have really quite impressive effects on healing that includes regeneration of new hair follicles, glands and fat within the wounded skin.

The next step in this research is developing a drug that would prevent scar formation and improve skin healing.

This proof of principle is really important, because it suggests that the adult wound-responsive cells do, in fact, harbor a latent regenerative capacity, it just simply needs to be unmasked," said Biernaskie.

Now, we are actively looking for additional pathways that may be involved. Our hope is to develop a cocktail of drugs that we could safely administer in humans and animals to entirely prevent genetic programs that initiate scar formation in order to greatly improve the quality of skin healing.

See the article here:
University of Calgary study finds insights in skin regeneration after severe burns or injuries - CTV Toronto

Stem cells are a really trendy subject nowadays, and there are many good reasons why. Theyre the most important key to health, youth, regeneration and anti-aging in humans and animals. In this article, well look at what stem cells are, and what triggers them to heal and repair tissues in our bodies, as well as those of our dogs and cats.

Stem cells are how we all started out. Theyre the cells that develop into the different organs in our bodies when we and our pets are tiny growing embryos.

In mammals, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues in the gut and bone marrow. In other organs, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under certain conditions. Without stem cells, wounds would not heal. Blood would not be able to regenerate. In fact, there would be no way to survive.

Stem cells, and the work they do, can vary from species to species. Salamanders can use their stem cells to regrow their tails, yet we humans certainly cant regrow our fingers! Horses and cows have stem cells in their teeth, which replenish throughout their lives. As we and our animals age, however, the function of our stem cells declines.

In many tissues, stem cells serve as an internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells, as long as the person or animal is alive.

Even after very long periods of inactivity, stem cells are capable of renewing themselves through cell division. Once they become active again, they can renew or replicate themselves for very long periods if they do not become specialized. Unspecialized stem cells can give rise to specialized cells, as they can be induced to change into specific tissues or organs.

Its important to understand that there are different categories of stem cells, depending on their capabilities.

The stem cells in our bodies, and those of our pets, work to regenerate and heal us, but the trick is knowing how to effectively trigger them. Scientists are now beginning to understand the signals that trigger stem cells to get going and start their repair work. These very important signals are carried by special messenger compounds called kinases.

Kinases comprise the repair and regeneration mechanism of the body. They have enormous diversity and play a critical role in cellular communication and signaling. A loss of function in kinases has been proven to cause cancer and other disease in humans. Kinases have the effect of making cells renew and reconstruct themselves. Importantly, they also stimulate and activate stem cells.

Kinases stimulate repair and activate stem cells. They are of ultimate importance to good health.

Drugs such as Apoquel and Cytopoint work to decrease allergic reactions by obliterating specific kinases. Apoquel detrimentally affects several different kinases. Cytopoint advertises that it destroys only one kinase, but as each kinase communicates with literally hundreds of others, obliterating even one has a cascade effect.

We dont preserve umbilical tissue from our dogs and cats, although this may evolve into an industry in the future. Our animals fat cells can be cultured to make stem cells, which are limited to forming connective tissue only. And as we and our pets age, the stem cells in our bodies become less vigorous.

Nevertheless, many products are being touted as stem cell activators. Whether all these products actually work is debatable. Cosmetic companies offer topical solutions to make your skin young again. Specific oral supplements claim the ability to activate stem cells. In fact, stem cells has become a buzz phrase to increase interest and sales. Its being overused and generalized, and there are so many stem cell-activating products out there that researching every single one for efficacy would prove a daunting task.

However, for about four years, I have been successfully using stem cell-activating products made in France and approved for use in the United States. These products are not at all like the stem cells derived from a pets fat. They are not made from self but are created to target a disease in order to mend, improve or cure it. These products, in addition to cells from the placenta and umbilical cord, contain cells to direct healing to the targeted organ, along with superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, glutathione transferase, glutathione peroxidase, and kinase activators to increase communication within all body systems.

I have used these products (made by Biocell) for many different cases. For example, I have seen routine success using them in cats with FIP and lymphosarcoma. Amazingly, when these patients return to heath, they are actually cured. Remember, we are not using fat cells from the individual animal, which would be contraindicated in cancer these are stem cell-activating products. Cure is achieved by activating the patients immune system and thymus gland. We are simply activating the patients own stem cells, which then work to cure what are considered incurable diseases.

The importance of the kinase communicators in our pets bodies cannot be underestimated. Thanks to them, an intricate and perfect system designed to maintain health at its best exists in every human and animal body. Working with that system constitutes holistic medicine in its purest form. In general, holistic modalities work to create a stronger, wiser and healthier body. Giving stem cells a nudge getting them off the couch and back to work produces a potent healing effect. For me, using stem cell-activating products for healing is extremely rewarding.

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Stem cells and your pet | Animal Wellness Magazine

Overview

Stem cells found in the fat tissue of dogs are adult stem cells that have the ability to differentiate into many different cell types. When there is an injury or inflammation, the body naturally recruits the type of cells it needs to help with healing. When you introduce stem cells in that situation, your dog or cats body develops them into their type of cell needed for that injury.

To use stem cells, your pet would undergo a brief period of anesthesia so that a small amount of fat can be surgically removed. The fat sample is then processed to isolate and activate the stem cells. The result is a solution of concentrated active stem cells that can be injected into your pet to speed and improve healing.

Stem cell therapy is most commonly used for osteoarthritis and ligament/tendon injuries. Recently, there have been cases showing its effectiveness for degenerative myelopathy, spinal trauma, gingivitis/stomatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, certain autoimmune conditions and even liver and kidney disease.

Platelets are a component of blood that are best known for allowing wounds to clot. These platelets also contain certain proteins and growth factors that can kick start tissue healing and decrease inflammation. PRP is a concentrated dose of these beneficial components.Platelet rich plasma starts by taking a sample of blood from your pet. That sample is spun in a centrifuge in a special collection tube that allows the extremely platelet dense portion to be separated from the rest of the blood. The PRP sample can then be injected into your pets injured joint or made into a gel that can be applied to wounds or burns.

One of the biggest benefits of stem cell and PRP treatments is that they can reduce or eliminate your pets need for pain medications and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These drugs can have adverse side effects or are not safe for pets with certain disease conditions. Since both the stem cells and PRP come from your own pet, there is no risk of reaction or adverse effects. Stem cells can also be banked or stored at the processing facility so if your pet needs additional injections in the future, he/she will not need to undergo another collection procedure.

For more information on Stem Cell Therapy and PRP, check outMediVet Biologicswebsite athttp://medivetbiologics.com/home/pet-ownersor call 386-761-2220 and schedule an appointment withDr. Zukerto discuss how these treatments can benefit your pet.

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Stem Cell Therapy | Atlantic Animal Hospital