Monday, September 26, 2005

Discarded Placentas and Stem Cells - PittChronicle

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Routinely discarded as medical waste, placental tissue could feasibly provide an abundant source of cells with the same potential to treat diseases and regenerate tissues as their more controversial counterparts, embryonic stem cells, suggests a Pitt study published in the journal Stem Cells. A part of the placenta called the amnion, or the outer membrane of the amniotic sac, comprises cells that have strikingly similar characteristics to embryonic stem cells, including the ability to express two key genes that give embryonic stem cells their unique capability for developing into any kind of specialized cell, Pitt researchers report. And according to the results of their studies, these so-called amniotic epithelial cells could in fact be directed to form liver, pancreas, heart, and nerve cells under the right laboratory conditions.

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