Belarusian university accelerates stem cell growth

Biophysicists of the Physics Faculty of the Belarusian State University (BSU) in association with physiologists of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus have worked out and built a device able to accelerate the conversion of stem cells into neurons, the University’s press service told BelTA.

The device and the technology are unparalleled in Belarus. The experimental device able to stimulate cells is designed for medical applications.

It is generally recognized that as a person grows older, the number of stem cells diminishes and therefore, the restorative ability of the human body decreases as well. While looking closely at another physical factor the BSU researchers found out that a properly tuned alternating-current electric field influences the growth of stem cells. Apart from that, the process reduces the time that stem cells need to “learn”. The process also allows saving on expensive growth factors that encourage the development of stem cells towards neurons.

The experimental device is but one component of an entire complex of works and researches, which physicists, chemists, neurosurgeons, geneticists, and other specialists in Belarus are carrying out. Their research endeavors and accomplishments are geared towards studying human cells and restoring the functionality of the human nervous system.

BelTA has been told that stem cells are kind of an initial building material for the human body. Stem cells can grow to become any kind of human cells. Stem cells are most often used to treat various kinds of diseases. In particular, these cells are used to treat blood diseases, chronic hepatitis, disseminated sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, ischemic heart disease, traumatic injuries of the spinal cord, infantile cerebral paralysis, and Parkinson's disease.