Amniotic stem cells may be as useful as embryonic stem cells (1/8/2007)
Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University led by Dr. Anthony Atala, head of Wake Forest's regenerative medicine institute and senior researcher on the project, have reported that they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that surround babies in the womb.
The research, which has taken seven years to complete, has produced a variety of tissue types from these cells. The goal is the coax the stem cells into transforming into any of the more than 220 cell types that make up the human body.
The researchers extracted a small number of stem cells floating among the many other cell types in the amniotic fluid. One of the more promising aspects of the research is that some of the DNA of the amnio stem cells contained Y chromosomes, which means the cells came from the babies rather than the mothers.
The prospect raises the possibility that someday expecting parents can freeze amnio stem cells for future tissue replacement in a sick or injured child without fear of immune rejection. Similar “cord blood banks” have been created for storage of cord blood stem cells for the same purpose.
This isn’t Dr. Atala first appearance in the headlines. In April 2006, Dr. Atala and his team at Wake Forest University impressed the world when they released a report claiming the first human recipients of laboratory-grown organs.
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