X-Message-Number: 16185 From: "Jan Coetzee" <> Subject: Brain cells cultivated from corpses Date: Thu, 3 May 2001 16:23:20 -0400 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0007_01C0D3ED.5E31B640 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Brain cells cultivated from corpses London - Researchers have isolated and cultivated brain cells from human corpses in a scientific feat that could provide a new source of stem cells for research and medical treatments. Professor Fred Gage and his colleagues at the Salk Institute in California obtained the brain cells that can grow, divide and form specialised brain cells from tissue samples of people shortly after their deaths. Their achievement, reported in the science journal Nature on Wednesday, could overcome the ethical obstacles of using stem cells derived from embryos. "I find it remarkable that we have pockets of cells in our brain that can grow and differentiate throughout our lives and even after death," Gage said in a statement. Stem cells are master cells that can grow into virtually any type of cell in the body. Embryos are the richest source of human stem cells but their use has been dogged by ethical debate. Right-to-life and religious groups oppose the use of stem cells from early embryos. Scientists want to use the cells to develop treatments for diseases ranging from Parkinson's, diabetes and cancers to leukaemia, hepatitis and stroke. Gage and his team used biopsy or post-mortem tissue from 23 people ranging from 11 weeks to 72 years old. Tissue taken from younger individuals provided more viable cells. The scientists used special growth factors to obtain cells from the tissue, which they said was a crucial element to their success. "This study employed a pool of cells from extracted tissue. We haven't yet isolated individual cells from that pool and followed them to see if a single cell can give rise to multiple classes of brain cells," Gage explained. All of the cells used in the research were from people who had suffered from brain disorders. Gage and his colleagues were using them to study the cell biology of the various brain diseases. "Cells recovered from healthy individuals could provide a model for understanding how to stimulate and guide the normal processes of brain cell growth and differentiation, lending insight to how growth might be stimulated in people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's," said Gage. The scientists are also planning to transplant the brain cells into animals to see if they survive and differentiate. "Testing in whole animals is the only way to know if adult tissue can be a source of stem or progenitor cells for transplant purposes to treat neurodegenerative disease," Gage added. Stem cells are derived from the cells of aborted foetuses, blood cells taken from the umbilical cord at birth and adult tissue. Stem cells from early embryos offer the greatest potential for human benefit. - Reuters ------=_NextPart_000_0007_01C0D3ED.5E31B640 Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=16185