China's Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Health announced in Beijing Tuesday that the country's first stem cell injection was allowed into phase I clinical test for leukemia patients.

Prof. Zhao Chunhua, principal investigator for cellular therapyresearch at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said at a news conference that the new drug, mesenchymal stem cell, won approval from the State Food and Drug Administration for the clinical test on Dec. 22 last year. The research is keeping up with other international medical researchers.

Zhao and his research team found multipotent adult progenitor cells exist in adult tissue and have numerous characters of embryonic stem cells.

Zhao further isolated a kind of cells which exist in most fetustissues and can be differentiated into multiple tissue cells when placed in a suitable environment.

Zhao said they have collectively developed a procedure to raisethe stem cells.

Zhao said, it has been proven that co-transplantation of the stem cells and bone marrow can remarkably increase the survive rate of irradiated animals compared to treatment with only bone marrow.

Zhao said the new therapy with mesenchymal stem cells is different from traditional bone marrow transplantation. It can promote the survival of newly transplanted bone marrow cells and help reconstruct hematopoietic system.

"If the new therapy is successfully taken to bedside," Zhao acknowledged, "it would certainly provide a generally wiser and safer solution to patients who need bone marrow transplantation."

Zhao and his peers will try to broaden the use of the stem cells into finding new treatments for more diseases, including diabetes, skin injury and fibrosis of the liver.

The Ministry of Science and Technology, via its funding conduitof the state high technologies promotion program, financed the research with about 40 million yuan (some 4.8 million US dollars).