X-Message-Number: 14657 References: <> Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 16:37:43 +0100 From: "Joseph Kehoe" <> Subject: replacement body part breakthrough Is it just me or have there been an increased number of these advances recently? http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_963000/963961.stm Scientists have reached another milestone in their quest to create "spare part" tissues for transplant using human embryonic stem cells. Researchers in the US and Israel have discovered a way to direct the early development of these special cells in the lab. The international team used eight different growth factors - body chemicals that influence cell development - to encourage embryonic stem cells into becoming the three primary cell types known as ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. It is these cell lines that go on to form the different tissues in the body, including muscle, bone, skin and nerves. and in case we start to get complacent... http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_863000/863320.stm Dinosaurs were not gradually becoming extinct before they were wiped out by a meteor impact, as some scientists have suggested. Joseph. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=14657