Tony Perkins' Washington Update
July 28, 2005

Adult Stem Cells Lay Eggs, Too

A study published today by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital provides another compelling example of the tremendous flexibility of adult stem cells. Last year this group overturned scientific dogma, showing that ovaries can potentially generate new eggs (oocytes). Today's report confirms the earlier finding and tracks down the source-adult stem cells in the bone marrow! Both in mice and in humans, it appears that some adult stem cells in the bone marrow show a cycle of genes normally expressed only in eggs, and migrate from the bone marrow, through the bloodstream, to the ovary where they form new eggs.

In their experiments, scientists could restore egg production in the ovaries of sterilized female mice using bone marrow or blood stem cells transplanted from fertile mice. Jonathan Tilly, PhD, director of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology at MGH and leader of the research team, notes, "This could lead to new treatment approaches based not on drugs but on regenerative medicine through adult stem cells." This newly-documented result with adult stem cells simply adds to the rapidly growing evidence that some adult stem cells are "pluripotent," able to form most or all body tissues. While adult stem cells move ahead with positive results and therapies, embryonic stem cell research continues to flail. The Senate should take note of adult stem cell successes as they consider various bills to promote either embryonic or adult stem cell research.

©Copyright 2005, Tony Perkins' Washington Update, July 28, 2005, Family Research Council.

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