If you are new to Patexia and have never submitted to a contest, start by watching this simple how-to video  and take a look at our tutorial contest first, and refer to the submission notes below. The following questions will help you understand specifically what we are looking for in this study.

Patexia is looking for evidence of commercial uses and licensing opportunities for a method of generating a large quantity of neural progenitor cells by culturing whole bone marrow. In particular, this culture should take place in a medium which includes fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and epidermal growth factor (EGF).

Neural progenitor cells are a special type of cell which have the ability to differentiate from a more general into a more specific type of cell. They are similar to stem cells in that they may be used to repair and regenerate various adult tissues because of this ability. Also like stem cells, neural progenitor cells are difficult to isolate and culture in significant quantities. Research has found that culturing mammalian bone marrow in a culture comprising FGF-2 and EGF produces a clinically significant quantity of neural progenitor cells which could be used in a variety of therapeutic applications.

Sources must clearly demonstrate use by a commercial entity in the year 2007 or later.

Questions

You will be asked the following two questions to enter the contest. The first contest entry to answer “yes” to both questions and provide a source to backup this answer will be selected as the contest winner. Entries answering “yes” to only question 1 will be considered for a partial contest prize. Patexia will ask three additional user survey questions which are optional, for informational purposes only, and will not be considered when selecting contest winners and awarding contest prizes.

1. Can you locate a source which describes culturing bone marrow in a medium including fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) by companies for commercial use, such as creating a cell bank for a cell therapy?
2. Can you find evidence of this method implemented by companies to create a neural progenitor cell line for commercial use, such as creating a cell bank for a cell therapy?
3. [user survey question] Can you provide us with more information regarding your qualifications to enter this contest? (no reference needed, simply a short list of any relevant background or qualifications)
4. [user survey question] Can you provide us with more information regarding the time you spent researching this contests? (no reference needed, simply an estimate of the time spent researching this particular contest)
5. [user survey question] Can you provide us with more information regarding the resources and databases you searched for this information? (no reference needed, simply a short list of any sources you used to research this contest)

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