oneman28

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1242320.cms

PTI[ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2005 01:40:28 AM ]


BEIJING: China has developed an indigenous and cheaper typing reagent of haematopoietic stem cell, which could help to cure leukaemia, military medical experts said.

The home-made HLA-DRB1 typing reagent is cheaper than imported reagent of its kind and is easier and quicker in use, said Wang Shengqi, head, biological genetic chips laboratory under the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

The new typing reagent, developed after five years of research, can be used to test all the 13 discovered genetic types of HLA-DRB1, covering all the 18 known serological types, he said.

Transplantation of haematopoietic stem cell is the most effective treatment of leukaemia.

Bone marrow donors have to go through HLA genetic typing to find a matchable leukaemia patient, he said.

The reagent is also applicable in organ transplantation, forensic medicine and HLA-related studies, Wang said.

The reagent has been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration this month, and will be soon put into production by a Shenzhen-based company, Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

China is estimated to have nearly four million leukaemia patients, and the number is increasing by 40,000 every year, Wang said.

The national data base of bone marrow had received donation from more than 290,000 people by the end of July this year, the report said.