US Team Finds Alternative Stem Cell Source

American researchers reported this week that stem cells found in hair follicles can develop into nerve cells and might be useful in medical treatment.

With strict government restrictions on using stem cells from human embryos, scientists in the US are under pressure to find alternative sources of these cells, which can develop into different kinds of body tissues, from skin to liver or nerve. In the hope of finding treatments for a range of diseases and enabling doctors to perform individually tailored transplants, the British government has pursued a more liberal regime on embryo research, which it hopes to turn to its economic advantage.

The US researchers found that stem cells taken from the follicles of mouse whiskers matured into neurons and other neural cells, as well as into skin cells, smooth muscle cells and pigment-producing cells. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an American journal, point to another potential source of stem cells.

Apart from the stem cells in embryos a few days old, adult stem cells are found throughout the body, including in bone marrow and hair follicles. Robert Hoffman, of the American medical research company AntiCancer Inc, and colleagues at the University of California San Diego and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said it might some day be possible to take a person's own stem cells from hair follicles and grow a tissue transplant.

In September, a team from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the medical endowment, and the Rockefeller University in New York found stem cells from hair follicles that grew hair, stretches of skin and sweat glands.

Researchers hope that transplanting stem cells could provide treatment for a range of illnesses such as the degenerative brain disease Parkinson's, diabetes and spinal cord injuries.

In London, the head of the division of developmental genetics at the National Institute for Medical Research, Robin Lovell-Badge, told the BBC: "It's definitely a source of cells that needs to be explored. We want to find the best source of cells possible."

He said it would be important to compare the quality of hair follicle stem cells with stem cells derived from other sources.