Stem cells

‘Fountain of youth’ technique rejuvenates aging stem cells

Study moves scientists one step closer to creating youthful heart patches from old cells

November 29, 2012

An aged stem cell before growth factors were added (credit: Faculty of Medicine/University of Toronto)

A new method of growing cardiac tissue is teaching old stem cells new tricks.

The discovery, which transforms aged stem cells into cells that function like much younger ones, may one day enable scientists to grow cardiac patches for damaged or diseased hearts from a patient’s own stem cells — no matter what age the patient — while avoiding the threat of rejection.

Stem cell therapies involving donated bone marrow stem cells run the risk of patient rejection in a portion of the population, says Milica Radisic, Canada Research Chair in Functional Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering at theInstitute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering(IBBME) and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto./.../