Prof Colin P McGuckin

Working in the field of stem cell biology since 1988, Professor Colin P McGuckin today is the most sought-after lecturer of stem cell research and an expert in stem cell biology, tissue engineering & transplantation sciences and haemato-oncology. McGuckin made a medical breakthrough in 2005 with the creation of world’s first ‘mini liver’ from umbilical cord blood. He has not only delivered lectures at some of the world’s leading research institutes but has also been invited to various forums at the European Parliament, Bundestag German Parliament, Austrian Parliament, French Senate, and  at the US senate on Capitol Hill.
McGuckin founded the Stem Cell Therapy Laboratory in 1999 which, today specialises in stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The organisation is the world’s first to characterise a harvesting and culture strategy to produce embryonic-like stem cells from the umbilical cord blood. In January 2009, McGuckin became the director of Cell Therapy Research Institute, Lyon, France, which is, one of the world’s largest adult stem cell centres. He is also the president of Novus Sanguis, a charitable consortium for regenerative medicine. Further, he is a freelance journalist and works with the television, radio & print media and believes in providing medical & scientific research knowledge to the public.
McGuckin recently visited India to share his plans on integrating new scientific technologies, which may substantially speed up treatments for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and disabilities. Read on to know more about his plans.

MM: To begin with, tell us something about stem cell banking and its advances in treating diseases.
Around 20 years ago, only a handful of diseases were being treated with umbilical cord blood stem cells. With the advancement in this field in recent times now over 80 diseases can be treated or supported with stem cells. The advances that have been made are staggering. It is now possible to store cord blood stem cells for several years and with this technology we can help to plan for future treatments. As we have achieved this, we have to take stem cell banking seriously.

MM: What kinds of initiatives and research work have you undertaken at the stem cell therapy laboratory?
Our expertise in stem cell therapy grew from haematological/oncological research and patient-based therapy including bone marrow disorders where stem cells fail to grow. Using cord blood and bone marrow, we use normal & abnormal stem cell groups to understand control mechanisms including cytokine and transcriptional pathways. This led us to investigate human adult stem cells for haematology-oncology transplantation. These stem cells have the benefit of not coming from embryological sources and are hence, an ethically sound and viable alternative to tissue engineering.
Further, we designed unique harvest and tissue culture biotechnology to characterise stem cells with multi-tissue development potential from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood. This technology enabled us to expand and cross-develop stem cells into not only blood but also non-haematopoietic tissues including neural, endothelial, hepatic, and cardiac tissues. A major advance in this work was our finding that these early adult stem cells could promote tissue regeneration, as demonstrated by growth of human corneal tissue in our laboratory. In haemato-oncology, we utilise stem cell transcription arrays normally quiescent in adult tissues–but sometimes reactivated in cancer–to develop anti-transcription factor drugs for oncology therapy.

MM: What made you come to India? How well is this concept accepted here?
India has a long history of medical innovation and a willingness to look at new ideas. The birth rate in India also means that it is one of the countries that could be benefitting rapidly from the new stem cell treatments. Unfortunately, not many