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| Image: Renjith Krishnan FreeDigitalPhotos.net | |
Researchers from McMaster University have succeeded in creating human blood from adult human skin cells. What is unique about this discovery is that the adult skin stem cells have been converted directly to blood stem cells without having to be changed into pluripotent stem cells first. Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to change into almost any type of cell in the body.
Dr. Cynthia Dunbar of the National Institutes of Health states that this unique approach, "detours around the pluripotent stem cell stage and thus avoids many safety issues, increases efficiency, and also has the major benefit of producing adult-type l blood cells instead of fetal blood cells, a major advantage compared to the thus far disappointing attempts to produce blood cells from human ESCs (embryonic stem cells) or IPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells)." The researchers project that this study could lead to new treatments for people suffering from cancer and certain blood conditions. They believe that by producing blood cells from a patient's own skin, there will be no need for bone marrow transplant matching.
Learn more about this study:
- Scientists Turn Skin Cells Directly Into Blood Cells Science Daily
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