Researchers at the Salk Institute announced last week that they successfully reprogrammed cord blood cells to
function like embryonic stem cells. As reported by Science Daily, the institute’s study results are significant because they identify cord blood as a convenient source of versatile stem cells with theoretically limitless potential.
Embryonic stem cells have been the focus of scientific interest because they are considered “pluripotent,” which literally means “many potentials” (pluri + potent). Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to generate all of the various cell types in the body. However, the collection of embryonic stem cells raises ethical controversy because the embryo is destroyed in the process.
Induced pluipotent stem cells (iPS) are created by collecting tissue from child or adult tissue without harm to the individual and then genetically modifying the cells to behave like embryonic cells with pluripotent characteristics.
According to Juan-Carolos Izpisua Belmonte, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk Institute’s Gene Expression Laboratory who led the study, “Cord blood stem cells could serve as a safe, “ready-to-use” source for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), since they are easily accessible, immunologically immature and quick to return to an embryonic stem cell-like state.”
The cord blood stem cells used in this research passed all standard tests for pluripotency and were also more readily and quickly reprogrammed than other adult cells. According to Dr. Belmonte with cord blood stem cells “It’s almost like they are already half-way there.”
Dr. Belmonte’s next goal is to reprogram cord blood stem cells using methods that are safe for clinical trials in humans.
Individuals who have banked their baby’s cord blood stem cells for their own use could be among the first to have access to a wide range of potential new therapies as they become available. According to another study author, Ulrich Martin from Hannover Medical School in Germany, privately banked cord blood might actually be the source of a sufficient amount of cells to treat adults who develop diseases later in life – for example, heart disease – with cells derived from their own cord blood.
Read more about this news from the Salk Institute researchers.