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Facial Bones Grown From Fat-Derived Stem Cells
TheClockworkSoul sends in an article up at Scientific American, from which we quote: "Stem cells so far have been used to mend tissues ranging from damaged hearts to collapsed tracheas. Now the multifaceted cells have proved successful at regrowing bone in humans. In the first procedure of its kind, doctors at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center replaced a 14-year-old boy's missing cheekbones — in part by repurposing stem cells from his own body. To create the new bones, which have become part of the patient's own skull structure and have remained securely in place for four and a half months, the medical team used a combination of fat-derived stem cells, donated bone scaffolds, growth factors, and bone-coating tissue. The technique, should it be approved for widespread use, could benefit some seven million people in the US who need more bone — everyone from cancer patients to injured war veterans."
This is really cool. I can't wait 'till stemcells can finally regrow whole bodies! Imagine! Immortality at our doorstep!
In July, this year, 3 separate labs were able to produce normal healthy adult reproducing mice from induced pluripotent stem cells.
Research on mice usually done so because they are mammals like us and many techniques can be easily translated to work on/with humans.