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Posted on Nov 22, 2002, 9 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
Stem cells obtained via cloning are "fitter" and better at replacing damaged tissues than stem cells obtained from other sources such as bone marrow, according to scientists from biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) in Massachusetts and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Stem cells obtained via cloning are "fitter" and better at replacing damaged tissues than stem cells obtained from other sources such as bone marrow, according to scientists from biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) in Massachusetts and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. They cloned skin cells from two cows and injected blood-forming stem cells, which also give rise to immune system cells, derived from the cloned fetuses back into the two cows, one of which had had its immune system suppressed with drugs. Results of the experiment revealed that the cloned cells replaced as much as 50% of the cows' blood stem cells, even in the cow with the fully functioning immune system. The researchers suspect that the cloned cells are better at replacing damaged cells because they are "younger" - this is because cloning fundamentally turns back the cellular clock and restores telomeres to their original length. The study also suggests that therapeutic cloning could be used to restore the immune system of people with leukaemia or autoimmune diseases such as arthritis. Robert Lanza, Vice President of Medical & Scientific Development at act, says that it may also be possible to modify cells be implanting them, for example cells to restore an AIDS patient's immune system could be made resistant to the HIV virus.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.newscientist.com on the 6th November 2002
