50 People Can Save Japan

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Cells of 50 donors could cover most Japanese
A bank of cells to be donated by 50 people with special types of white blood cells will cover about 90 percent of Japanese people's transplant needs should transplants using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells be made possible, according to an estimate by a Kyoto University professor released Monday. According to Norio Nakatsuji, director of the university's Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, whether a patient will reject a transplanted cell, tissue or organ depends on the level of matching human leukocyte antigen (HLA) between the recipient and the donor. There are a vast number of HLA types, but Nakatsuji said at a science conference on iPS cells in Kyoto that one to seven people in every 30,000 have the HLA type that is less likely to cause rejection if their cells, tissues or organs are transplanted to another person. Nakatsuji said that if iPS cells are made from skin cells and other cells of 50 such HLA holders, there will be a cell bank for transplants capable of covering about 90 percent of Japanese. Nakatsuji said: "It will take a lot of time and money to make iPS cells for individual patients by using their own cells. But making a cell bank will benefit many people. If we obtain cooperation from such existing entities as marrow banks, we can realize this project quickly."

Those machines at Narita will soon do more than take fingerprints.

[kurohinge1]

. . . Those machines at Narita will soon do more than take fingerprints.

Don't worry. They're programmed to stop sucking and release your arm when you drop below 30 kg.