A group of researchers from the University of Texas have found evidence to suggest that stem cells obtained from the bloodstream are capable of maturing into liver, skin, and gastrointestinal cells. Scientists are confident that stem cells will a way of treating many disease where tissues are damaged, for example Parkinson’s disease and heart disease, although it was originally thought that only stem cells harboured from embryos had the ability to transform into the full range of body tissues. However, recent research found that stem cells taken from the bone marrow of adults can develop into liver, muscle, and brain cells, and now it appears that stem cells obtained from the blood have the same ability to differentiate as those in bone marrow. The discovery means that doctors could have an “easily accessible” and abundant supply of the patient’s own stem cells, which could possibly remove the need for the controversial use of embryos and the painful process of extracting stem cells from bone marrow.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 2002; 346:738-746
