Stemade & importance of Dental Stem Cell preservation was covered in an article by Times of India

1. * THE TIMES OF INDIA, CHENNAI
MONDAY, JULY 14, 20144 TIMES CITY
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Clouds gather over the evening landscape in the city
S L Shanth Kumar
No license to screen
The late timing of World Cup football
matches came as a dampener for clubs
which have screened sporting events like
IPL cricket matches on giant screens so
that patrons can enjoy the game over
dinner. As patrons did not want to stay
back so late and drive back home, clubs
started to screen matches only after
getting confirmations. One club had to
cancel its plans to screen the match after
only four of its members responded to an
email asking whether they would be
interested in watching the final match
between Germany and Argentina. Star
hotels and pubs which have licenses to
serve liquor round the clock made the
most of these matches by screening
special sessions.
Up in smoke
Passengers and motorists who drove
down to Central on Saturday evening
were in for a surprise when they saw
smoke coming out from behind Central.
People at first thought the railway
station was on fire but then got puzzled
because everything looked normal and
people were going about their work as
usual. Many rushed in to check but then
realised that it was the smoke from SBI
building that was on fire at Parrys.
Metro rail workers and autorickshaw
drivers had a lot of explaining to do for
motorists who stopped to ask about the
situation.
Not free for all
A few employees at an office realised
that they were getting signals of a WiFi
package of a phone inside their
workplace. They asked around to find
out and alert the owner but could not
trace him because there were numerous
people on the floor and they did not
suspect that signals would travel far.
But on the contrary, a few colleagues
started using the WiFi, assuming it was
from an adjacent building. A month and
many downloads and app updates later,
a colleague who sat in a far corner of
the floor told his peers that he had got
a huge bill running up to more than
`5,000 for usage. Checks revealed that
the ID shown against the hotspot was
his. It was then that they spilled the
beans. Though all laughed it off, it
taught the professional a lesson. Now,
he is checking his bill to find out
whether any of his neighbours have also
been using his ‘free’ WiFi.
Money or nothing
A tragedy can bring out the best and
the worst in humans, they say. During
the building collapse in Porur, while
there were many locals bringing in food
for rescue workers or the police
handing out buttermilk packets to
everyone toiling in the sun, there was
also a group of people who were trying
to make the most of a tragedy. On the
second day of the rescue operations,
this reporter came across three people
who claimed to be Shantha Kumari's
husband. Shantha Kumari was one of
the first people who was found dead.
Even before there was any
announcement about compensation
from the government, a few of them had
thought that money would be on its way
and that it would be an handsome sum.
One just hopes the real husband got the
compensation.
Sanjay or Sanjeev?
What’s in a name? A lot. Union minister
of women and child development
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi seemed a bit
disturbed when a speaker pronounced
her husband’s name erroneously at a
book launch held in the city recently.
While giving an introductory speech,
the speaker said ‘Maneka Sanjeev
Gandhi’. Thinking that it might be a slip
of the tongue, the minister remained
silent when it happened first. But after
the speaker repeatedly said ‘Sanjeev’
instead of Sanjay, Maneka pointed out
the mistake. Fortunately, she neither
created a scene nor discussed the
matter with those who shared the dais
with her. Instead, when the speaker
ended her address , Maneka politely
told her about the error. Apparently, the
speaker was not aware of the mistake
she made.
(Contributed by V Ayyappan,
Karthikeyan Hemalatha
and M T Saju )
CITY LIGHTS
CSureshKumar
Priya.Menon@timesgroup.com
W
hen Seema Kumar had her
baby, umbilical cord stem
cell banking was unheard
of. Eager to preserve the
stem cells of her daughter Tejal as it may
help her medically in the future, she
scoured the net for more information.
And that is when she read about dental
stem cell banking.
“I realised that we could get stem
cells from teeth, so I contacted my den-
tist and banked her milk tooth in March
this year,” says the 36-year-old, who is an
associate professor at NIFT. While um-
bilical cord stem cell banking has been
popular, many are slowly discovering the
advantages of banking teeth.
“There is less awareness about bank-
ing dental stem cells but it is catch-
ing on,” says Dr M S Muthu of
Pedo Planet, a children’s dental
centre that has four branches.
“So far, about five people have
come to me to bank their child’s
tooth,” he adds.
Vashali Surana recently
banked her 10-year-old son Sa-
haj’s milk tooth. “There was no
awareness about stem cells when I had
my sons, so when I heard about banking
teeth I wanted to do it,” says the 36-year-
old.
Stemade Biotech, a private dental
stem cell bank, which has its laboratory
in Chennai, gets teeth from all over the
country. “We launched in 2011 and now
have a presence in 30 cities,” says manag-
ing director Shailesh Gadre. “We have
partnered with 700 dentists across the
country, and trained them to collect teeth
in specially designed containers, which
is then transported to our lab near Tam-
baram in Chennai.”
Banking stem cells have many ben-
efits as they can be used to treat many
diseases in the future. There are two
types of stem cells — embryonic cells
that come from embryos three to five
days old and adult cells. “There are
ethical issues with taking embryonic
cells; adult cells, however, can be col-
lected without a problem,” says Gadre.
Adult cells are also of two types —
haematopoietic, which can be used to
treat blood-related diseases and mesen-
chymal cells that can be used to treat
tissue and organ-related diseases. The
latter can be obtained from many parts
of the body, including the bone marrow.
“However, it involves invasive proce-
dures. But stem cells are present in the
pulp inside teeth and you can get them
from even milk teeth, provided you ex-
tract it just before it falls,” says Gadre.
Children usually have 20 milk teeth
that begin falling from the age of seven
to 13. “In the case of cord blood, you have
only one opportunity, at the time of de-
liver, but in the case of teeth, you have
multiple opportunities,” says Dr Muthu.
The finest dental pulp stem cells are
found in baby teeth or milk teeth
Though stem cells can be extracted
from any healthy tooth, it is also often
taken from wisdom teeth and during
orthodontic treatment.
“Often people don’t have enough
space in the jaw to accommodate all their
teeth so wisdom teeth are removed,” says
paediatric dental surgeon Dr Vinodh
Kumar, who runs Kids and Family Den-
tal Care. “Sometimes even 28 teeth can-
not be accommodated so teeth will be
misaligned. We take two teeth out and
align the remaining teeth with the help
of wires and brackets. These teeth can
be banked.”
According to him, these stem cells
can be used to treat a range of diseases,
including eye disorders. Cost is, how-
ever, a deterrent. “We get a lot of enquir-
ies but it costs about `1 lakh,” says Dr
Muthu. To attract customers stem cell
banks are now offering EMI options.
Some people also don’t mind cough-
ing up the money. “We save up and invest
for our child’s future. And this is a kind
of medical insurance that I hope will
never be used,” says Seema.
Missed banking baby’s cord cells?
SAVE MILK TEETH INSTEAD
Parents Save Stem Cells From Teeth To Treat Future Illnesses
FACE VALUE
Dental stem
cells are found
in the dental
pulp, the soft
tissue inside a
tooth
Stem cells from milk teeth are
‘mesenchymal’ type of cells — cells
that have the ability to generate
a wide variety of cell types like
chondrocytes, osteoblasts and
adipocytes.
Chondrocytes, osteoblasts and
adipocytes are cells have the ability
to generate
cartilage, bones
and adipose tissue
that store energy
as fat
In essence,
dental stem cells
can generate solid
structures of the
body such as bone,
cartilage and
muscle
New research
suggests the
potential to regen-
erate nerves. This
is being studied
further for use
in dentistry and
medicine
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are the
body’s raw materi-
als — cells from
which other
cells with spe-
cialised func-
tions are
generated
Under the right
conditions in the
body or a laboratory,
stem cells divide to form more
cells called daughter cells
These daughter cells either
become new stem cells (self-
renewal) or specialised cells like
blood cells, brain cells, heart
muscle or bone
Dental pulp
Stem cells
Source: Mayo Clinic, Stemade Biotech
The finest
dental pulp stem
cells are found in
baby teeth or
milk teeth
Graphics by Varghese Kallada
Dental
stem cells
DENTISTS
COLLECT TEETH IN
SPECIALLY
DESIGNED CONTAINERS,
WHICH ARE TRANSPORTED
TO OUR LAB... ADULT CELLS,
CAN BE COLLECTED WITHOUT
ANY ETHICAL ISSUES
Shailesh Gadre | MD, STEMADE BIOTECH
T
he Chennai building
collapse, which has
taken a huge toll, is a
wake-upcallforourlawmak-
ers and municipal and plan-
ning administrators. This
was not an illegal building
being constructed clandes-
tinely in a congested part
of an old city – this was a
completely new construc-
tion in an area planned by
Chennai Metropolitan De-
velopment Authority. That’s
why it’s even more disturb-
ing and highlights the loop-
holesinlaw.
We don’t have a law that
regulates civil and structur-
al engineers. This allows
anyone who possesses a di-
ploma or a degree in civil en-
gineering to design the
structure of a building. The
distinction between those
who are trained to design
andthosewhoshouldbeonly
supervising construction
gets blurred. You need to
know how to evaluate soil
structure, seismic condi-
tions
and a lot more. Only a
post-graduate education can
make a difference. Most mu-
nicipal bodies, however, al-
low unqualified persons to
dothejob.
The job of a construction
supervisorisalsounregulat-
ed – not even a municipal li-
cence is required. So, what
you get are glorified masons,
withoutanyformalskills)or
diploma holders who have
noworkingskills.
Our municipal laws do
not fix any professional re-
sponsibility for the various
skills required for such a
complex building activity.
So, while unregulated per-
sons are allowed to design
structures and even electri-
cal and other building com-
ponents, they cannot be held
to account. The municipal
bodies simply wink at this
because municipal govern-
ance in the country is found-
ed on corruption.
What compounds the
problem is that neither re-
cords of the design process-
es, nor drawings are stored
anywhere.
Neither designers nor
municipalities have any sys-
temof recordingsimpledata
like what load a building has
been designed for or how
much water or power it will
consume.
And at the bottom of this
huge mess is the moribund
state of our architectural
and engineering education.
Colleges have mushroomed
ineverydistrictwithoutade-
quately trained teachers.
These degree shops turn out
graduates who have no
knowledge of their subjects,
just a piece of paper to show
attheendof fourtofiveyears
intheclassroom.It’snowon-
derthenthattheresponsibil-
ity which comes with such a
professional degree escapes
them.
The lack of a real estate
regulator, of course, is the
last nail in the coffin. There
is no one to protect the con-
sumer against unscrupu-
lous builders and ensure
that all laws related to con-
struction of buildings are
followed. In this particular
case,thepersonwhohadpro-
jected himself as the build-
ing’s architect was not one.
Thearchitectwhosignedthe
drawings probably did not
perform the statutory pro-
fessional duties with any dil-
igence. And nothing is
known about the design or
constructionengineers.
So, the result is an un-
avoidable tragedy of grave
proportions. How many
times will we allow this to
happen?
(SudhirVohraisan
architectandurbanplanner)
Looking for the rot in
the Chennai debris
The Chennai case highlights loopholes in the law
B A Raju
Sudhir Vohra
Chennai: There have been widespread
reportsof highlevelsof surveillancein
the state, with officials, politicians and
journalistsbeingthetarget.Duringthe
previousDMKregime,thetapedphone
conversation between the then chief
secretaryLKTripathyandapoliceoffi-
cial about the AIADMK chief J Jayala-
lithaa’s assets case was leaked. Former
socialwelfareministerPoongothaiAla-
di Aruna resigned from the state cabi-
net in 2008, two days after the tran-
scripts of her conversation with a top
vigilance official, pleading on behalf of
her corrupt relative,
were published in the
media.
There was much debate in the
media at that time about the culture of
surveillance in the state. Officials com-
plained they felt that they were being
watched all the time. In March 2011,
AIADMK MPs demanded in Parlia-
mentthatthePrimeMinistershouldor-
der a probe against the alleged tapping
of Jayalalithaa’stelephonebytheDMK
government.
Meanwhile,sourcessaidtheSPwho
made the complaint was told by his ju-
niorofficialsthathisphonecallsarebe-
ingscrutinized.“TheSPwasveryupset
withthedevelopments.Hehadimmedi-
ately called a senior official in Chennai
and reported the incident,” a highly
placesourcetoldTOI.
According to senior officials, the
concerned SP also sent a written com-
plaint to Ramanujam a few days back,
inwhichhenamedtheintelligenceoffi-
cerwhoorderedthesnooping.Themat-
terisunderinvestigationnow.
A senior official in the police head-
quarters in Chennai said an intelli-
gence team has screened only the call
list of the SP’s driver. “There was no
phonetappingorsurveillanceof theSP.
He has misunderstood what was hap-
pening,”theofficialsaid.
According to the com-
plaint,apolicevehiclehas
been misused for a long time in the dis-
trict. The intelligence team considers
the complaint as valid since it came
from police circles. “The complaint
made some strong allegations includ-
ing the misuse of vehicle (for many
days)againstthedriverof theSP.Sowe
haveinstructedourteamtomonitorthe
driver’smovements,”officialsinthein-
telligence department said. They also
added that the vehicle was captured by
theclosedcircuitcameraattheTollpla-
za in Salem many times in recent
months.
Senior cop says only
driver’s call was screened
Continued from Page 1
SNOOPING ROW
Chennai: The city may soon see an in-
crease in foreign tourist arrivals as the
Uniongovernmenthasallowedcitizens
of 40countries,includingUKandcoun-
tries in Europe to apply for Indian visa
online. Union budget has mentioned
that e-visa will be accepted at nine air-
portsinsixmonths.
Travel and tour organisers are up-
beat that a major hurdle in attracting
foreigntouristshasbeenremovedbythe
union government. The move is expect-
ed to benefit foreign leisure travellers
andMICE(meetings,incentives,confer-
ence and exhibition) travellers who
form a good percentage of travellers
whocometoChennai.
“BeingthegatewayforsouthIndia,a
large number of foreign tourists arrive
in Chennai and travel by road, rail or
flights to other states for leisure and
business. The government’s move will
seeasurgeinforeignarrivalsattheair-
port,” said an Airports Authority of In-
diaofficial.
Travel and tour operators were fac-
ingalotof troublebecausethehassleof
applyingforavisawasputtingoffmany
travellers.
“We have lost a lot of delegates for
important conferences because they
could not get the visa on time. Many
have written angry letters to us about
the hassle in applying for visa at the In-
dian embassy. There are long queues,
lots of processes, forms and other trou-
bleswhichmanydistinguishedexperts
did not want to go through to come and
attendaconference,”saidMKAjithKu-
marof AsiaPacificTours.
Healsosaidthatapplyingforatour-
istvisawaseasywhileavisatoattenda
conferenceorameetinginIndiausedto
take time. “This is unjustified because
there is no way immigration is going to
find out if a foreigner who arrives on
tourist visa attends a conference or
meets experts from his field in India af-
terreachinghere.”
Touroperatorsnowfeelthatthee-vi-
safacilityandrecognisingGoaasacon-
ference destination would do a lot of
benefits for MICE tourism. Foreign
tourist arrivals have increased. Tamil
Nadu stands second with 3.99 million
foreign tourist in the top 10 states that
has attracted maximum number of
travellersfromabroadin2013.
“Majorityof thetravellersarethose
whovisitChennaiastransitpassengers
and gets added as a visitor in the state,”
said J Sethuraman, CEO, Travelxs Pri-
vate,whichspecialisesininboundtour-
ists.
More tourists expected as
e-visa to come into force
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: The 51st annual book
bank function of Rajasthan
Youth Association was held at
Kamaraj Memorial Hall on Sun-
day.
Rajendra Bokdia, president
RYAsaidmorethan2500newben-
eficiaries had been added in 2014
andaround37,800booksweredis-
tributed.Theprojecthascovered
more than 87,500 students across
the colleges in Chennai and
Chengalpattu during the last 50
years. The text books include
thoseof arts,commerceandengi-
neering,headded.
A free job fair for students in
August was also announced dur-
ing the event. Ajay Sancheti
Member of Parliament, Rajya
Sabha was the chief guest for the
event.
Assn’s book bank function held
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai: The corporation’s
plans to decongest T Nagar
seem to be stuck in a bottle-
neck. Tenders will be floated
for the ``80 crore pedestrian
plaza after World Bank re-
leases funds for the project
as part of giving the com-
mercial hub a make-over.
But corporation engineers
are struggling to get traffic
and parking facilities right.
The plaza, meant to be a
walkers’ paradise, will
stretch from Panagal Park to
Anna Salai, a distance of 1.4
kilometres.
Engineers say it would be
practical to first take up and
complete the multi-level
parking project that has also
been proposed, in the same
location, at Panagal Park.
But senior officials of the
corporation are reportedly
keen to develop the plaza
first as it would take only 6
months. The underground
parking project is likely to
take three years.
“The primary problem is
once work starts where will
people park? Even on a nor-
mal day it’s difficult to man-
made fully underground.
While officials and
ground level engineers are
pondering over how to han-
dle heavy flow of road users,
residents and commuters
seem ready to put up with in-
conveniences during con-
struction. “Even when the
Usman Road flyover was be-
ing built we faced a lot of dif-
ficulties,” says V S Jayara-
man, resident of T Nagar.
“But we benefit at the end of
it.Sothefinalresultwillgive
us a hassle free walking and
shopping experience. Our
only concern is that it has to
be maintained and hawkers
should not be encouraged.”
The plaza starting from
Bashyam Road near Panagal
Park up to Dr Nair Road in
the first phase will have will
have an exclusive side of the
road for cyclists and pedes-
trians and the other side for
MTCbuses.Thestretchfrom
Dr Nair Road through the
junction of North and South
Boag Road up to Anna Salai
where it ends it will be four
track lane for all vehicles
and pedestrians.
age this area and traffic di-
versions are yet to be worked
out,” a corporation official
said. “About seven interior
roads have been identified
for parking but that will
again create traffic jams. We
are also looking at school
grounds. But if the multi-
level parking is completed,
then it will all be hassle
free,” the official said.
The proposed multi-level
parkingisa``25crorefacility
on T Nagar's Bashyam Road,
adjacent to Panagal Park,
which got the government’s
nod last year. The facility
was initially designed to
comprise six levels and be
able to hold around 510 four-
wheelers and 918 two-wheel-
ers.
But when the plaza came
into picture, designers felt
the façade and view of Pana-
gal Park needed to remain
and not be blocked out.
Hence the parking facility is
now being re-designed to be
Plansforpedestrianplazatrumpparkingproject
Traffic To Be
Issue As
Plaza To Be
Taken Up First
Officials are keen on developing the pedestrian plaza before the
underground project because that will take less time. But, the
traffic problem will still remain unanswered
C Suresh Kumar
Divya.Chandrababu
@timesgroup.com
About seven
interior roads
have been
identified for park-
ing but that will
again create traf-
fic jams. We are al-
so looking at
school grounds
SENIOR CORPORATION OFFICIAL