by University of New South Wales – Phys.org
image: The microfluidic device that emulated an embryo’s heartbeat and blood circulation. The cell seeding channels are indicated by red food dye, while the heart ventricular contraction control channels and circulation valve control channels are indicated by blue and green food dye respectively. Credit: Jingjing Li, UNSW Sydney
Biomedical engineers and medical researchers at UNSW Sydney have independently made discoveries about embryonic blood stem cell creation that could one day eliminate the need for blood stem cell donors.
The achievements are part of a move in regenerative medicine towards the use of “induced pluripotent stem cells” to treat disease, where stem cells are reverse engineered from adult tissue cells rather than using live human or animal embryos.
But while we have known about induced pluripotent stem cells since 2006, scientists still have plenty to learn about how cell differentiation in the human body can be mimicked artificially and safe
