BLOOD taken from umbilical cords could be an excellent source of stem cells to treat stroke, says a Florida-based team.
Stem cells can be coaxed into becoming any other type of cell in the body, holding out the possibility of growing replacement tissue or even organs. Stem cells are found in embryos, umbilical cords and some adult tissue, such as bone marrow. But pro-life campaigners argue that an embryo is a human life, and destroying it is murder. Using stem cells from other sources would get round such objections.
Paul Sandberg and his team at the University of South Florida used various growth factors to coax stem cells taken from human umbilical cord blood into becoming immature nerve cells. When they injected these cells intravenously into rats that had suffered strokes, the results were spectacular. Within two weeks, the treated rats were performing almost as well on neurological tests as ...
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