Blood cell shortage could be solved via new stem cell breakthrough

A recent breakthrough via stem cell research has provided hope for cancer patients, organ transplant patients and others.

Experts have said that the discovery could mean that a vital agent for blood clotting derived from stem cells could be used to treat patients undergoing an organ transplant or chemotherapy. Platelets, which are the body’s natural blood clotters, could be developed via embryonic stem cells and provided to aid patients that have a shortage due to certain conditions and diseases.

The breakthrough came from American scientists at Advanced Cell Technology (aka ACT), which found that lab-developed platelets functioned just as normal ones did in laboratory mice. Robert Lanza, ACT’s chief scientist for the project, said that the artificially developed platelets amazingly looked and behaved just like the real thing. He called it an ‘important step’ toward the generation of a potentially unlimited source of fully functional platelets that could be used in a transfusion.

The technique began with extracting stem cells from an IVF embryo, which were then engineered to become megakaryocytes, a specialised type of cell that can be made to produce mature blood platelets. However, Dr Lanza said that because platelets don’t contain standard genetic material, they could soon be developed with a technique that doesn’t require the use of a human embryo.