Stem Cells Derived by Parthenogenesis

The research was reported in the January 31, 2002, issue of Science.

Pathenogenesis is a process by which embryonic development is initiated directly from an unfertilized egg cell, so no fetus develops. The process may avoid the controversy associated with using embryonic stem cells. The researchers generated a pluripotent stem cell line, from which they have produced neurons, heart muscle, smooth muscle, and other kinds of cells. The cell line has grown continuously for 10 months. Potential applications include the treatment of disease where specific cell types have become dysfunctional, such as heart disease, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. Cells derived from this renewable source might be able to alleviate some technical problems of human cell therapy, say the researchers.

The most remarkable differentiation was the development of midbrain dopamine neurons. "This is a special population of neurons whose efficient generation from primate embryonic stem cells had not been reported previously,” noted Drs. Grant and Vrana, both professors of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest.





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