11-Feb-2022: Research in regenerative medicine

The Government of India has conducted stem cell research through various Departments/ Institutions by supporting basic as well as clinical research through national funding agencies like the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Department of Science and Technology (DST). The work done in this field has resulted in the establishment of state-of-art infrastructure at over 40 premier health research and educational institutes in addition to supporting industry initiatives in India.

ICMR has released the National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research (NGSCR) 2017 which were framed in harmonization of international guidelines. Government has supported the ethical and scientific conduct of stem cell research through guidelines for stem cell research. Government supports using hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for hematological disorders, as standard of care, as per NGSCR-2017.  

ICMR has also released Evidence Based Status of Stem Cell Therapy for Human Diseases for creating awareness and understanding regarding experimental use of stem cells under the purview of clinical trial and the document is available at the following link:

https://main.icmr.nic.in/sites/default/files/upload_documents/Evidence_Based_Status_of_Stem_Cell_Therapy_for_Human_Diseases_v1.pdf           

The Government has notified the New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019 for regulation of clinical trials and New Drugs including cell & stem cell derived product, gene therapeutics product and xenografts for human use, which contains various provisions for improving transparency and accountability for the approval process and to promote research and development of the new drugs.

The total funds released by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) during last three years under Stem cell research in fellowships and Ad-hoc project, are as below:

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has supported projects for basic biology of stem cells; early and late translational research; developing gene editing technology for potential therapeutic applications and creation of animal models for various human diseases. The funds released by the DBT during the last three years and the current year in this area is Rs. 7345.58 Lakh.

30-Jul-2021: Stem Cell Research

The Government of India has undertaken stem cell research through various Departments/ Institutions.

Department of Health Research-Indian Council of Medical Research (DHR-ICMR) is supporting biomedical research and stem cell is one of the priority areas promoted through centres for advance research/excellence, task force activities in identified thematic areas, viz. Basic stem cell biology, Cancer stem cell, Translational research and Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), open ended investigator initiated ad-hoc projects and fellowships for past twenty years. Many laboratories have been strengthened through above programmes.

Under Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has implemented projects on embryonic, adult and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Projects have been supported in areas of basic biology of stem cells; early and late translational research; developing gene editing technology for potential therapeutic applications; creation of animal models for various human diseases and training programmes on various components of stem cells and regenerative medicine. Studies have also been implemented to develop improved methods and techniques for isolating and culturing stem cells from different origin and also to generate induced pluripotent stem cells from various somatic/adult tissues.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), through its constituent laboratories namely CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi and CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB), Kolkata has undertaken a Sickle Cell Anemia Mission during FY 2017-2020.

Government has supported the ethical and scientific conduct of stem cell research through guidelines for stem cell research. These guidelines are available since 2007 and were revised in 2013 and again in 2017 based on the advancement in the field and released as National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research (NGSCR). This document provides guidance to all stakeholders including scientists, clinicians and industry and can be accessed online.