The university's Dr Le Thanh Hung, who is in charge of the research project into the medical uses of stem cells extracted from spotted dear antlers, said he had the idea to use the antlers as a natural remedy two years ago.
"I had heard about studies by scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in England , and according to that study the revitalisation of tissue and other body parts in mammals is a process based on the growth of stem cells," said Hung.
However, extracting these stem cells from the antlers wasn't easy. In March 2008, Hung's team of scientists, including leading bio-technology expert Prof Pham Thanh Ho, received tissue samples of deer velvet antlers from Tri An district in southern Dong Nai province.
To acquire the stem cells, the samples had to undergo numerous procedures, such as processing and the separation of cells that were then transplanted and grown in the lab.
Early this year, the team announced their success in extracting the stem cells.
Hung said the experiments succeeded when the cells survived and grouped together while kept in a nutrient substance in specially controlled conditions.
"The next stage of our work is to research ways of applying our findings to produce health supplements and cosmetics," said Hung.
Some products, including wine, soft drinks and tonics, were developed from the newly-found stem cells and tested on lab animals such as white rats.
Following the positive results, the city's Department of Science and Technology approved funds totalling 80 millionVND ( 4,000 USD) to support further research in the area.
Head of the university's Animal Biological Technology Department, Phan Kim Ngoc, said he hoped the achievement would help people get easier access to the valuable medical resources.
Hung said the research team's final findings will be registered with the Intellectual Property Copyright agency before the scientists can cooperate with businesses to produce deer antler remedies for the market.
"Hopefully, our research will result in securing a stable source of stem cells from antlers, because at the moment we can only get antlers from deer that are hunted in the wild or raised by farmers," said Hung.
"Antlers are only harvested in spring and then stored for a long time, which may result in the loss of nutrients in the antlers."
Deer antlers are known for their special properties. Professor Do Tat Loi's book Vietnamese Herbs and Remedies notes that antlers consist of protein, minerals, lipid fats, water and 18 types of amino acids.
The fastest developing animal organism in the world, deer antler velvet is the soft, velvet-like covering deer antlers have before they turn bony. It is known to have miraculous anti-ageing properties and has been revered over thousands of years as a wonder drug for many ageing-related diseases and ailments among Chinese and other Oriental therapists./.
"I had heard about studies by scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in England , and according to that study the revitalisation of tissue and other body parts in mammals is a process based on the growth of stem cells," said Hung.
However, extracting these stem cells from the antlers wasn't easy. In March 2008, Hung's team of scientists, including leading bio-technology expert Prof Pham Thanh Ho, received tissue samples of deer velvet antlers from Tri An district in southern Dong Nai province.
To acquire the stem cells, the samples had to undergo numerous procedures, such as processing and the separation of cells that were then transplanted and grown in the lab.
Early this year, the team announced their success in extracting the stem cells.
Hung said the experiments succeeded when the cells survived and grouped together while kept in a nutrient substance in specially controlled conditions.
"The next stage of our work is to research ways of applying our findings to produce health supplements and cosmetics," said Hung.
Some products, including wine, soft drinks and tonics, were developed from the newly-found stem cells and tested on lab animals such as white rats.
Following the positive results, the city's Department of Science and Technology approved funds totalling 80 millionVND ( 4,000 USD) to support further research in the area.
Head of the university's Animal Biological Technology Department, Phan Kim Ngoc, said he hoped the achievement would help people get easier access to the valuable medical resources.
Hung said the research team's final findings will be registered with the Intellectual Property Copyright agency before the scientists can cooperate with businesses to produce deer antler remedies for the market.
"Hopefully, our research will result in securing a stable source of stem cells from antlers, because at the moment we can only get antlers from deer that are hunted in the wild or raised by farmers," said Hung.
"Antlers are only harvested in spring and then stored for a long time, which may result in the loss of nutrients in the antlers."
Deer antlers are known for their special properties. Professor Do Tat Loi's book Vietnamese Herbs and Remedies notes that antlers consist of protein, minerals, lipid fats, water and 18 types of amino acids.
The fastest developing animal organism in the world, deer antler velvet is the soft, velvet-like covering deer antlers have before they turn bony. It is known to have miraculous anti-ageing properties and has been revered over thousands of years as a wonder drug for many ageing-related diseases and ailments among Chinese and other Oriental therapists./.
