German Scientists Make Stem Cells From Testicles
October 10th, 2008 | by admin |
Scientists have developed a new techinique of extracting cells from male testicles and turning them into stem cells.
This method of creating stem cells holds a lot of promise because it opens the door for treating male patients with their own stem cells a fact that bypasses any risk of those cells being rejected by the body.
Embryonic stem cells are really vital for the future of medical research due to their ability to morph into any type of tissue found in the body.
For the study the researchers used testicular tissue from 22 male volunteers between 17 and 81 years of age.
After collecting the tissues, they were isolated and then cultured to grow into stem cells.
“The advantage these cells have in comparison to embryonic stem cells is that there is no ethical problem with these cells and that they are natural,” said study lead author Thomas Skutella, a professor at the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine in Tuebingen, Germany.
The only problem with this technique is that only men can benefit from the breakthrough.
The study is published in the journal Nature.
