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September 19, 2007
Magic Bullets: Early-Stage Sperm Cells May Be Harvested Into Life-Saving Stem Cells
I've never been as proud of my boys.
I'm pretty sure I have it in me on an average Wednesday night to cure Parkinson's in an entire zip code.
A man's testicles might be a source of stem cells to help him fight serious diseases, US scientists have shown.
They extracted early-stage sperm cells from mice, then turned them into cells capable of becoming different tissues.
...
The testicular cells do not need to be genetically "tweaked" to behave more like embryonic stem cells, unlike other "adult stem cells" found elsewhere in the body, say the scientists.
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He listed several illnesses which he hoped could be tackled using stem cell technology, including Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's, stroke, diabetes and even certain cancers.
It is hoped that one day, implanting large quantities of stem cells into tissue damaged by disease could prompt the body to replace it.
There is, of course, a catch:
...
He said: "At present, there is an awful lot of interest in this from veterinary circles as a source of stem cells for animal use.
"I can see more problems getting humans to agree to have this done, as it would be a very painful procedure to have them extracted."
It's all ball bearings nowadays. Maybe you boys need a refresher course.
Via Reliapundit.