Stem Cells Used for Curing Fractures

This might be regarded as a new form of alchemy, the only difference being that the ultimate goal is not gold, but bones.

Scientists at the University of York have launched a new research project which aims to develop ways of making bones from cord blood (obtained during birth from the placenta or the umbilical cord).

The three-year �2.5 million research project involves scientists in the UK and across Europe, as well as academics from the University of York's Departments of Sociology and Philosophy, who will carry out sociological and ethical evaluations of the work. The project will seek to find a viable new medical use for the two million units of cord blood banked in Europe, and currently used for transfusions and treating leukemia.

"The mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in cord blood appear similar to bone marrow stem cells but they are hard to locate. We aim to isolate and expand them so we have enough cells to use in therapies," biologist Dr Paul Genever, who is co-coordinating the project, said.

"We also want to compare them with bone marrow and embryonic stem cells and investigate how we can turn them into bone structures for use as 3D bone replacements," the researcher added.

If the creation of bone structures from stem cells proves viable, it might be used for cell-based therapies to repair bone defects and fractures. In addition, bone structures developed in this way could be used to make hip replacements more durable.