The amniotic stem cells grew readily into independent cell lines, or colonies, doubling in just 36 hours, the paper says. It was published in Sunday’s edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.
The researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., were able to get the amniotic cells to differentiate into fat, bone, muscle, blood, nerve and liver cells.
One advantage is that these cells, unlike embryonic stem cells, don’t form tumors when implanted into mice.
But even more important, because amniotic fluid is so easy to harvest, it would make it possible to create thousands of cell lines.
“If you banked 100,000 specimens, you’d be able to provide cells for 99% of the U.S. population with a perfect match for genetic transplantation,” Atala says.
Unlike embryonic stem cells and like adult stem cells these cells may have some potential to help people. With all of the money spent there’s been very little progress with ESC. Adult stem cells have been helping real people with real problems.
My problem with the stem cell debate is that rather than being an investment in our future health it’s a boondoggle for biologists that want money without having to produce anything.