The fact remains that they are already doing it. Heart tissue isbeen restored using stem cells in a location were it truly matters. Thus this will available far quicker than imagined.
What has recently become apparent is that injection of stem cellsmade from one's own skin cells can be targeted to restore damagedtissue anywhere. There is obviously a lot more to it than that butit is still that simple.
If we are lucky, a whole slew of ailments can be treated this waysuccessfully.
Of course, the holy grail here is the restoration of brain damage. Everything else should be easy in comparison.
All I know is that even my dentist has finally become optimistic. Weall want to be able to punch out new nerves and grow new teeth.
Stem cells could beused to make biological pacemaker for heart patients
Injections of heartmuscle created from patients’ own skin cells could save them fromneeding surgery to implant artificial pacemakers that regulate theirheartbeat, following new research.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9652994/Stem-cells-could-be-used-to-make-biological-pacemaker-for-heart-patients.html
Scientists havegrown fully functional heart muscles by reprogramming stem cells andskin cells from patients. They found that these reprogrammedcells can “reset” the rhythm of any unhealthy heart tissue thatis placed around them.
The researchersbelieve that patients suffering from irregular or slow heart beatscould be treated with an injection of new heart cells grown from stemcells to create a “biological pacemaker” that will regulate theirheartbeat.
Currently patients whohave suffered heart attacks that cause their heart to pump out ofsync or who suffer from irregular heartbeats have to undergo surgerywhere a battery powered pacemaker is fitted to control the organ’srhythm.
There areapproximately 25,000 pacemakers fitted each year in the UK.
Dr Oren Caspi, fromthe Technion-Israel Institute of Technology who has been carrying outthe research, said the heart cells they had created appeared tobehave like young, healthy heart tissue found in new born babies.
He said: “We foundthat the electrical signal from the heart cells we createdsynchronised the beat of any surrounding heart tissue.
“We have seen thishappen in dishes in the laboratory and in animal models.When we integrated the cells into the hearts of pigs, they were pacedby the cells that were injected.
“It seems that thecells that beat fastest control the pace, so it could beused to replace artificial pacemakers for people with slow orirregular heartbeats.”
Dr Caspi and hiscolleague Professor Lior Gepstein earlier this year became the firstscientists in the world to generate beating heart cells byreprogramming skin cells taken from patients.
They converted theadult skin into a type of cell known as induced pluripotent stemcells, which have the potential to develop into any tissue found inthe body. By altering the conditions they were grown in, the cellsthen developed into fully functioning heart cells.
The researchersbelieve it will be possible to use skin cells from patients to createinjectable biological pacemakers – reducing the risk of them beingrejected by the patients body.
They are now workingwith clinical heart specialists in a bid to trail the treatment inhuman patients.
Dr Caspi said: “Weare working with clinicians to take some of our data to the clinic,but it is still a very new technology so there is still a lot ofresearch to be done before any treatments will emerge.”
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