New stem cell storage businesses, including umbilical cord blood banks, will have to be approved by the Department of Health (DOH), health authorities said yesterday, adding that those who fail to do so would be fined.
Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), the director-general of the Bureau of Medical Affairs, said that new operators of umbilical cord blood banks, as well as bone marrow, bone, skin and teeth preservation services, are required to register their business.
Only companies that provide stem cell preservation services for medical research purposes are exempted.
Companies that are already in existence must also complete their registration before the end of August or they will be fined for violating the Medical Care Act (醫療法). The DOH did not give any details on how much the fine will be.
“By law, the DOH regards businesses involved in the preservation of human tissue or organs as special businesses so they will need to complete registration,” Shih said.
For the storage of teeth stem cells, Shih said applicants will be required to submit a human experiment proposal from a major hospital to obtain the DOH's approval.
Shih said two companies recently began offering milk teeth stem cell preservation services. Stricter regulation of such companies is needed as there is insufficient evidence or experimental data to prove that it is safe, he said.
“We need to ensure the quality of these preserved stem cells, organs or human tissues, so potential medical arguments can be avoided,” Shih said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
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
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,”
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