Chennai, Oct 25 : Treating blood cancers such as aplastic aneamia and thalassemia by stem cells engineered in the lab would be possible in the near future, according to a renowned stem cell scientist.

Participating in an international stem cell meet organised by the Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) Dr Yukio Nakamura, a world renowned Stem Cell scientist and head of Bio Resources Centre, Riken institute, Japan, said the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells(IPS cell) technology discovered by Japanese scientists would pave way for such breakthrough.

He said ''this technology does not involve usage of embryonic stem cells and, therefore, is devoid of ethical conflicts'', he said, while delivering a lecture on the occasion of fourth anniversary of NCRM, an Indo-Japan Joint Venture< Institute.

Stating that Indo-Japan collaboration in Science has led to new discoveries, he said this ray of hope for blood cancer victims had another shot in the arm, with the possibility of laboratory expansion of human bone marrow blood forming stem cells (CD34+ cells) by the NCRM team without using animal protein, a NCRM release said here today.