StemCell Therapy

Stem cells are touted as a future source to replenish damaged tissue Researchers find skeletal muscle stem cells can survive for 17 days in human and 16 days in mice This is some two weeks more than the one or two days currently thought 'Highly promising' research requires more testing and validation before it can be tested in humans

By Graham Smith

PUBLISHED: 07:51 EST, 13 June 2012 | UPDATED: 07:52 EST, 13 June 2012

Some stem cells can lay dormant for more than two weeks in a dead person and then be revived to divide into new, functioning cells, scientists revealed yesterday.

The research unlocks further knowledge about the versatility of these cells, touted as a future source to replenish damaged tissue.

The scientists, led by Fabrice Chretien of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said in a statement: 'Remarkably, skeletal muscle stem cells can survive for 17 days in humans and 16 days in mice post-mortem, well beyond the one to two days currently thought.'

Breakthrough: A fusion of several stem cells - or a myotube - obtained in vitro from a human muscle collected 17 days after an individual's death

The stem cells retained their ability to differentiate into perfectly functioning muscle cells, they found.

The researchers added: 'This discovery could form the basis of a new source, and more importantly new methods of conservation, for stem cells used to treat a number of pathologies.'

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Could dead bodies soon be harvested for their stem cells? Scientists find 'miracle' cells stay alive for 17 days in ...

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