Stem cells don’t have any physiological specialisation, their pluripotency allows them to divide indefinitely generating daughter cells identical to the mother cells, or to produce specialised cells for specific tissues. Due to this characteristic, stem cells have been identified as one of the solutions for maintenance and renewal of vital tissues such as blood, muscles and skin.
Scientific research about these cells contributes to explain how the body develops, facilitates the non-invasive testing of new medicines, enables damaged cells to be replaced by new ones and, above all, allows for the treatment of serious pathologies such as heart diseases, nervous system degenerative diseases, diabetes and lymphoma. What’s more, stem cells therapy represents an alternative for organ donation. Stem cells from the umbilical cord, for example, are nowadays a therapeutic option for leukemia and metabolic disease in adults and children.
These cells’ capability and their use for life conditions improvements are recognised by the international scientific community. But there is still much to be researched.
Improve future generations’ quality of life
The Altran Foundation in Italy wants to identify and reward an innovative technological project able to solve one of the following problems:
• Comprehension of stem cells growth mechanism in order to repair damaged internal body parts and tissues
• Production of artificial internal body parts and tissues.
• Creation of new therapeutics protocols based on stem cells and creation of innovative supporting devices.
• Development of information systems in order to control stem cells storage and to manage derived data.
The sectors involved are:
• Healthcare and life sciences
• Biotechnologies
• Biomaterials and biosensors
• Medicines development
• Prosthetic
• Biomedical devices
• Laboratory instrumentation
• ICT
You are working on a project in Italy?
Candidates can call on an Altran consultant to help them prepare their application file. Registrations can be submitted from Tuesday 29th May 2012 to Wednesday 31st October 2012 at midnight.
