U of M makes major stem cell research breakthrough

Researchers at the University of Michigan have made a major breakthrough that could help other researchers around the world improve their protocols and prevent contamination as the grow new stem cell lines in the laboratory. AnnArbor.com reports on the details:

University of Michigan researchers have created a special synthetic surface, which they say could create a more consistent environment within a petri dish for those little stem cells. And that, they say, could in turn advance their studies into the world of embryonic stem cell research.

Typically, scientists have grown batches of embryonic stem cells, or cells derived from embryos that have yet to specialize for a certain purpose, on a surface of another set of cells – such as skin cells from mice.

But that can lead to batch variability, making it difficult for researchers to pinpoint why embryonic stem cells behave the way they do. It also raises questions about the unknowns introduced in embryonic stem cell research when animal proteins are involved in growing them.

This really could be a very important advancement. Growing stem cell lines on living tissue can introduce all kinds of problems into the research.