It might soon be possible to grow human body parts in a lab, even from older adults’ stem cells.
For the first time ever human cloning has been used to create stem cells for adults in a breakthrough which could lead to tissue and organs being regrown. Scientists have turned the skin cells of a 75-year-ol man into stem cells, which can grow into any type of tissue in the body.
Revolutionary development: The stem cell spray gun treats burns in 1.5 hours.
Doctor Jörg Gerlach, of the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has created a prototype medical device that literally sprays skin cells onto burn victims to re-grow skin.
Continue reading… “Instant skin graft spray gun offers new treatment for burn victims”
Asexual fission from one cell?
Planarians, a type of flatworm, reproduce by asexual fission. Cut one in half, and the missing parts will regrow until you have two planarians. Scientists have known for a while that the regeneration took place among a cluster of cells called cNeoblasts. Some wondered if was possible to grow an entire worm from a single such cell, and so performed an experiment…
Continue reading… “Worm Regenerates Entire Body from a Single Cell”
Researchers worked with mice and found that if a portion of the heart was removed within the first week of life, the heart grew back completely.
An adult zebra fish can regenerate a damaged heart with no scar formation. This remarkable phenomenon has been seen in other fish and amphibians as well, but never before in a mammal.
Continue reading… “Study Finds Newborn Mice’s Hearts Can Heal Themselves”