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Indian gets US patent for organ regeneration process

An Indian scientist has got a patent from the United States for developing a cost effective technique of regeneration of organs in mammals, which in the long run can replace tissue and organ transplants, Science and Technology Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said Thursday.

"In surgery no patent in process has been granted so far, but Dr B G Matapurkar of the Maulana Azad Medical College has been granted a process patent by US patent office on regeneration," Joshi told reporters in New Delhi.

The process is unique as body's own cells, called stem cells, are made to develop into tissues and organs, Joshi said adding it does not involve a donor and the related problems of rejection. As the body's own cells are used, even the poor can afford to go for the technique.

The minister said an Indian patent for the process was not possible owing to country's patent laws, which are being discussed by a select committee.

"The application was filed in the US patent office in 1997 and the patent was granted last month," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Matapurkar said the process was developed on the principle that if a single fertilised ovum can develop all body parts, other body cells also must have the capability to differentiate into different cells.

The development had unlimited possibilities which needed to be studied. If right kind of cells are found and placed at a right place, even nerves can be developed, he said.

The technique has been used in treating recurring hernia in humans, he said, adding tissue formation of aponeurosis, ureter, fallopian tube and utreus has been achieved in dogs and monkeys.

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