Green | October 09, 2008 | 47 comments

Testicles 'are stem cell source' Possible Breakthrough!

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The cells in a man's testicles may be able to do a lot more than just make sperm - they could provide any cell type in his body.

German and UK research suggests that sperm cells can be coaxed into stem cells with similar properties to those found in the embryo.

The study, in Nature, raises hopes eventually of a supply of "repair tissue" for other parts of the body.

Any ability to transform cells taken from an adult back into stem cells, and then onwards into a wide variety of tissue types, offers the chance of "personalised treatment" for patients.

Resulting brain, bone, or heart cells could be injected with no fear of rejection by the body's immune system.

It would also avoid the ethical controversies surrounding the use of cells taken from embryos.

From these, they extracted a type of cell called the "sperm precursor cell" - a type of adult stem cells with a fixed role - to become a sperm cell.

These were then manipulated chemically in the laboratory into a state more similar to cells found in the embryo, which can go on to produce all the cell types in the body.

However, it is as yet unclear whether the cells could one day be safely used in humans.
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