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Lab Grows Heart Muscle From Skin

Posted May 23, 2012 7:15 AM

From BBC News - Science & Environment:

Scientists in Israel say they have managed to turn patients' own skin cells into heart muscle in the lab.

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Guru

Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1753
Good Answers: 59
#1

Re: Lab Grows Heart Muscle From Skin

05/23/2012 12:33 PM

The stem cells - those universally capable cells, your body uses as a matter of course for repair - come in two distinct and mutually exclusive flavor:

1,. Embryonic: can do anything. Lack the control to do the right thing, but "any" thing. Today most experiments end up in uncontrolled proliferation = e.g. cancer.

2,. Adult: Takes time to learn, how to coax to do most of the things, but, at least it will not trip you up to unlimited proliferation (in plain language= cancer). Advantage is, that it is obviously is SELF, as in yourself. Repair is permanent, with no immune suppression needed.

Would you care to know, what I prefer? That is the $64thousand question for you.

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