A team of American researchers has discovered how to turn bone marrow stem cells, which normally grow into a variety of different blood cells, into nerve cells in the laboratory. Their findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience last week, could help develop new treatments for a range of conditions, including spinal injuries and Parkinson's disease.
The team, based at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, said the secret to making the nerve cells grow was the combination of ingredients used in the growth medium. 'Now we have the optimal medium which results in the conversion of 80 per cent of the cells into neurons, which in this area is astronomically high', said study author Dr Ira Black. Black said it might be possible to grow the cells and inject them into an injured spine or damaged brain to carry out repair work. 'The possibilities for spinal cord and brain repair suggested by this study are quite profound' agreed Susan Howley of The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, which funded much of the research.
Others were more cautious about the promise of treatments based on bone marrow stem cells. Dr J William Langston, of the Parkinson's Institute in the US, said he wondered if the new cells would be specific enough to treat a disease like Parkinson's. He pointed out that patients need not just nerve cells, but brain cells that will produce the chemical dopamine. Many scientists believe that research into both embryo and adult stem cells is necessary to fully understand the way in which cells are programmed to form all the different body tissues.
Sources and References
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Tantalising dream of drug-free cure
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Researchers turn bone marrow cells into nerve cells
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Researchers produce nerve cells from bone marrow
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