BBC News, James
Gallagher, Health and science reporter, 30 November 2012
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Stories
A patient's
own blood has been used to make personalised stem cells, which doctors hope
will eventually be used to treat a range of diseases.
The team at
the University of Cambridge says this could be one of the easiest and safest
sources of stem cells.
In a study,
published in the journal Stem Cells: Translational Medicine, the cells were
used to build blood vessels.
However,
experts cautioned that the safety of using such stem cells was still unclear.
Stem cells
are one of the great hopes of medical research. They can transform into any
other type of cell the body is built from - so they should be able to repair
everything from the brain to the heart, and eyes to bone.
One source
of stem cells is embryos, but this is ethically controversial and they would be
rejected by the immune system in the same way as an organ transplant.
Researchers
have shown that skin cells taken from an adult can be tricked into becoming
stem cells, which the body should recognise as part of itself and would not
reject.
The team at
Cambridge looked in blood samples for a type of repair cell that whizzes
through the bloodstream repairing any damage to the walls of blood vessels.
These were then converted into stem cells.
Dr Amer
Rana said this method was better than taking samples from skin.
"We
are excited to have developed a practical and efficient method to create stem
cells from a cell type found in blood," she said.
"Tissue
biopsies are undesirable - particularly for children and the elderly - whereas
taking blood samples is routine for all patients."
Dr Rana
told the BBC the cells also appeared to be safer to use than those made from
skin.
"The
fact that these appeared to be fairly stable is very promising," she said.
"The
next stage obviously is to say, 'OK if we can do all this, let's actually make
some clinical grade cells,' we can then move this technology into the clinic
for the first time."
Prof Chris
Mason, an expert on regenerative medicine at University College London, said
there was some "beautiful work" coming out of the lab in Cambridge.
"It's
a hell of a lot easier to get a blood sample than a high quality skin sample,
so that's a big benefit," he said.
"However,
induced pluripotent stem cells [those converted from adult cells] are still
very new, we need far more experience to totally reprogram a cell in a way we
know to be safe."
The British
Heart Foundation said these cells had "great potential".
The Medical
Research Council said there was "rapid progress" being made in the
this field.
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