Finding New Stem Cell Sources
Over the past year, researchers have been finding more new sources of potentially useful adult stem cells. Here, a Newswise press release details some of the latest research: "Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have successfully isolated stem cells from human skin, expanded them in the laboratory and coaxed them into becoming fat, muscle and bone cells. The study [is] one of the first studies to show the ability of a single adult stem cell to become multiple tissue types ... The research team grew mesenchymal stem cells, a type of stem cell normally found in bone marrow. ... Compared to bone marrow, a skin biopsy is easy to take, so it offers advantages for clinical use. The cells can be obtained from any small sample of human skin."