You will be able to “grow your own transplant liver in a lab within just five years,” says the Daily Mail. This news story is based on research that demonstrated a method to develop skin cells into stem cells, which were then matured into liver cells. The researchers used this technique to develop lab-grown liver cells from patients with inherited liver diseases, which they hope might aid future research into diseases. They found that the new liver cells shared a number of characteristics with the patients’ liver cells. The method developed in this research looks likely to be an invaluable...

By Paul Sims The lives of heart attack patients could be saved or extended after scientists discovered how blood vessels could be repaired using stem cells. They have devised a way of harvesting the cells and stimulating the growth of new arteries. The breakthrough offers hope to the 28,000 patients who need bypass surgery every year as well as thousands of other patients with heart problems. A heart attack occurs when the coronary artery taking blood to the heart’s muscles becomes blocked or damaged. It is hoped that injections of stem cells could one day be used to repair the arteries,...

Procedure offers potential alternative to transplants Injecting stem cells into a Montreal man’s heart seems to have helped heal the organ, say researchers investigating the experimental procedure. The case is part of the first study in Canada to evaluate the safety and feasibility of injecting different stem cells into heart patients with the aim of improving healing and function of the heart. “No research team in the country had implemented such a complete treatment process, going from harvesting stem cells in the patient, treating them, and injecting them directly into the myocardium,”...

A simple method uses stem cells from bone tissue to repair serious injuries quickly and cheaply. By Brittany Sauser A new surgical procedure can repair severe bone injuries and defects more quickly and simply than current methods, which include bone-grafting operations and lengthening procedures that involve inserting pins through the skin to pull bones together. The new technique makes use of a thin tissue called the periosteum, which lines the outer surface of all bones and contains stem cells that develop into bone to repair damage. To repair major bone breaks, or repair serious defects, the...

Stem cells are cells that can effectively turn into any other type of cell, and are therefore considered one of the most powerful treatment options around. In the early embryo, stem cells divide in order to become every organ and tissue in the body, and adult stem cells generally lie dormant. Read More…