Pittsburgh, PA (LifeNews.com) — Some adult stem cell success stories are raising new questions about whether there’s a need to explore unproven embryonic stem cell research. In what’s being hailed as a groundbreaking study, scientists at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh have discovered that adult stem cells have the same ability to multiply as embryonic stem cells.
The discovery means that adult stem cells could play an important therapeutic role. Before this research, it was generally believed that embryonic stem cells had a greater capacity to multiply than adult stem cells.
Scientists have typically believed that adult or post-natal stem cells grow old and die much sooner than embryonic stem cells, but this study demonstrates that is not the case,” said Dr. Johnny Huard of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
The entire world is closely following the advances in stem cell research, and everyone is interested in the potential of stem cells to treat everything from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease. But there are also many ethical concerns surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, concerns that you don’t have with post-natal or adult stem cells.
My belief is that this study should erase doubts scientists may have had about the potential effectiveness of post-natal stem cells.” Meanwhile, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine are reporting another breakthrough in adult stem cell research.
The research team has managed to isolate stem cells from human skin, expanded them in the laboratory, and enabled them to become fat, muscle, and bone cells. These cells should provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for organs as well,” Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, told the press. Because these cells are taken from a patient’s own skin, there would not be problems with organ or tissue rejection.”
