A research team funded by the National Science Council announced yesterday that combining certain nanomaterials with stem cells could offer a new cardiovascular regeneration treatment.
In the past, medical applications of nanomaterials have focused mainly on the detection and treatment of cancer, said research team leader Yeh Chen-sheng (葉晨聖), a professor of physical chemistry in National Cheng Kung University.
The nanomaterials used now have multiple functions of carrying medicine to the designated organs and dissolving in the diseased cells, tracking the effects of medicine and serving as a more effective treatment for cancer and congestive heart failure, he said.
According to team member Patrick Hsieh (謝清河), an associate professor and attending surgeon at the university’s Department of Surgery and Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering, the major problem for congestive heart failure treatment is organ transplant rejection. Injected stem cells have a low survival rate, and their use is too time consuming when treating acute myocardial infarction (sudden heart attack).
Heart disease was among the top five causes of death in Taiwan, killing nearly 500,000 people, according to a report on the 10 major causes of death between 2001 and 2005.
The team is now working on taking their research to a clinical level, hoping to make a breakthrough in the treatment of heart disease.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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