Stem cell research gets huge boost from Australian zebrafish discovery One of the most significant discoveries ever in stem cell research has been made by Australian researchers studying zebrafish, the Guardian reported. Scientists had previously not known how haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) formed, which had made growing them in a lab for treatment impossible. The team of researchers unravelled the mystery of how HSCs self-renew to replenish blood cells, which is vital to advancing stem cell research. The cells are already used in transplants for patients with blood cancers such as leukaemia and myeloma. HSCs have significant potential to treat a broader range of conditions because they appear to be able to form all kinds of vital cells that can target degenerative conditions. Researchers used high-resolution microscopy to film HSCs as they formed inside zebrafish embryos. The researchers had been studying muscle mutations, but noticed that the muscle-deficient zebrafish had several times the normal population of HSCs, Professor Peter Currie, from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Victoria’s Monash University said: “It’s a sad fact of life that humans are basically just modified fish, and our genomes are virtually identical to theirs. Zebrafish make HSCs in exactly the same way as humans do, but what’s special about these guys is that their embryos and larvae develop free living and not in utero as they do in humans.’’
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 10:56:16 +0000
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