Scientists have developed a way to harvest stem cells
efficiently from placentas after birth, opening up a potential
new source of the cells which can be used to treat a wide range
of illnesses including sickle cell disease, thalassaemia and
leukaemia. Frans Kuypers of the Children's Hospital and Research
Centre in Oakland, California, led a team to extract the stem
cells and found that placentas contained up to five times as
many as cord blood, which has been used in recent years as a
source of similar cells. His techniques are described in the
latest edition of the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine.
"Yes, the stem cells are there; yes, they are viable; and yes,
we can get them out," said Kuypers. His team harvested the cells
from the placentas of healthy women undergoing elective
Caesarean sections. He believes the technique could probably be
further optimised in future to harvest even more of the stem
cells. Stem cells are the body's master cells and can be turned
into almost any type of tissue – f