14 DAY TRIAL // Firefly stem cells are just like normal stem cells, except they have the same enzyme that makes fireflies glow, and they might be the key to helping doctors heal damaged hearts without cutting into the patient's chest.
These glowing stem cells were engineered by Steven Ebert, in his University of Central Florida lab.
The firefly stem cells glow brighter and brighter, as they develop into health heart muscle tissue, thus allowing doctors to see if they are working or not and especially where they are working.
Stem cells are extremely important to medicine because they are the only cells that integrate the organs where they are transplanted.
Nobody knows why and how fast they do this, but with these new 'glowing' stem cells, researchers can see the cells in action with the help of a special camera lens, that captures the glow under a microscope.
Steven Ebert, an associate professor in UCF's College of Medicine said that “the question that we answered was, 'How do you follow these cells in the lab and find out where they're going?'”
Once the doctors will fully understand the mechanism of the stem cells, then maybe some 17.6 million Americans suffering from coronary disease could be given more hope, through stem cell therapies.
The most curios feature of these stem cells is also what makes them special, because thanks to their glow, it will no longer be necessary to cut into patients' chest cavities and monitor the healing.
Ebert said that he hopes that these stem cells will be used in disease models, so that the healing of a damaged heart could be fully monitored.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, and it is a featured cover story in this month's highly ranked Stem Cell and Development Journal.