A team of American scientists has found a way to turn human fat into various other tissue types. Researchers, led by Dr Marc Hendrick of the University of California in Los Angeles, have shown that stem cells harvested from human fat can be made to grow into muscle cells in laboratory conditions. The scientists used fat removed during normal liposuction procedures and turned the cells into healthy bone and cartilage cells.
The fact that fat stem cells have been able to be reprogrammed means that an abundant and easy-to-obtain source of such cells might now be available. Previous attempts at using adult stem cells in 'tissue engineering' have been limited by the difficulties in obtaining them from the brain, bone marrow or from fetal tissue.
It is also hoped that fat cells will be an 'ethically neutral' source of stem cells and that the research might transform the way we think about fat. Dr Hendrick said 'our findings show that fat is not the tissue we once thought. Just as the Industrial Revolution transformed oil from trash to treasure, our research shows that unwanted human fat is actually a vigorous tissue with a tremendous amount of potential for good.'
Adam Katz, a team member from the University of Pittsburgh, said that the potential use of fat cells could make the use of controversial fetal or embryonic stem cells obsolete. It would also have the added benefit of being a genetic match to the person who was treated with stem cells - or, in the future, tissues cultivated from them - so the problem of tissue transplant rejection may be overcome.
Sources and References
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Scientists find way to turn fat into muscle
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UCLA/Pitt researchers transform human fat into bone, muscle, cartilage
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Human fat may provide stem cells
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Scientists transform fat cells into muscle
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