Thatís what researcher Mary Pat Moyer, PhD, professor of surgery, envisions based on her studies of neural and other stem cells with colleagues at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and The University of Texas at Austin.
Cellular spare parts may lead to help for spinal cord injury, brain damage
Stem cells are the immature, or precursor, form of cells that will go on to differentiate into brain cells, nervous system cells, liver, bone marrow and other types of cells. "Stem cells are fascinating," Dr. Moyer said. "If you put them into one kind of cellular Ďsoilí they grow into one kind of cell, and if you put them into another soil, they grow into another kind. They can be bred for specific purposes."
Dr. Moyer and colleagues hope their studies of the cells will one day enable surgeons to "fill in the neural blanks," for example, of patients who have suffered spinal cord injury or brain damage, or who live with Parkinsonís disease or a host of other diseases and disorders.
"We want to categorize bunches of cells, test them for safety and preserve them," Dr. Moyer said. "It is a similar concept to blood banking. When a certain type of cell is needed, it will be available for use."
Current work on the project is funded by InCell Corp. of San Antonio and the Center for Human Cell Biotechnology at the Health Science Center.
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