A surprising compromise may be found in the debate over stem cells. Scientists found that amniotic fluid can have some of the same characteristics as embryonic stem cells.
Amniotic fluid is obtained from the womb during a procedure called amniocentesis, which inserts a needle into the amniotic sac of a woman, and is sometimes used to test for genetic diseases. Amniotic fluid surrounds and nourishes the fetus. The fluid contains stem cells of the fetus, and can be considered the bridge between embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.
The use of embryonic stems cells is very controversial right now, due to ethical and moral dilemmas, and lack of donors.
The use of embryonic stems cells is very controversial right now, due to ethical and moral dilemmas, and lack of donors. Previous efforts to give adult cells pluripotency, often using viruses, were not as efficient, and carried a risk of the creation of tumors due to the disruption in DNA. This is the first study that converted stem cells without inserting foreign bacteria or using viruses.
This could have a wide range of implications for treatment and research. Scientists mentioned specifically the application of amniotic stem cells for research into cerebral palsy, and other genetic diseases diagnosed early in life. A previous study estimated that 150 donors of the material could provide a match for 38 percent of the population.
Amniocentesis carries a slight risk of miscarriage, about one in 300 or one in 500.
The results of the study were published in the latest issue of Molecular Therapy.
Published by Medicaldaily.com
Most treatments for cerebral palsy (CP) are initially directed toward children. What is not clearly established is the long- term effects of such treatments. Many appear helpful in the short term but prove to be disadvantageous in the long run. Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) is a permanent, irreversible neurosurgical procedure for reducing spasticity in cerebral palsy. Parents contemplating SDR for their child would like assurance that that there will not be harmful complications from it as the child ages into adolescence and adulthood. We now have new evidence...
The researchers used stem cells from amniotic fluid donated by mothers undergoing amniocentesis for other purposes during the first trimester of pregnancy. The cells were grown on a gelatinous protein mixture in the lab and reprogrammed into a more primitive state by adding a drug called valproic acid to the culture medium. An extensive set of tests found that these reprogrammed cells have characteristics very similar to embryonic stem cells, which are capable of developing into any cell type in the body — a property known as pluripotency.