liposuction and Stem Cells?

Battle of the Bulge Leads to New Development in Stem Cell Research

The heated ethical debates concerning the use of embryonic stem cells, has led to research in the area of using adult stem cells in their place. Currently, skin cells are used to make what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. These adult cells, after being grown in a lab for three weeks, can be reprogrammed to form heart, brain, bone or any other type of cells.

The problem being that this method is time consuming and fairly inefficient, yielding only 1 useable cell for every 1,000 manipulated.

Researchers at Stanford University have derived a more efficient way to produces these iPS cells.

Using leftover fat from liposuction procedures, researchers are able to produce 20 cells for every 1,000 manipulated and the cells produced from the fat are ready to be used right away, eliminating the 3 week waiting period.
Additionally, doctors may be able to use stem cells from the patient’s own fat stores, reducing the risk of rejection by the patient’s immune system.

This combined with the fact that nearly two-thirds of America’s adult population is either overweight or obese, is somewhat exciting to medical practitioners. The fat cells are plentiful, increasing hope for a cure to disorders of the soft tissues.