Scientists bring end to stem cell survival frustrationsRSS Feed

A group of scientists may have gone some way to remedying the frustrations created by culturing stem cells for spinal injury and other treatments.

Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute found that by using the two compounds Thiazovivin and Pyrintegrin to protect the cells, they could make them survive for longer through the lab's culture process.

Sheng Ding, senior author of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study paper, explained that this survival issue had frustrated scientists researching treatments for spinal injury and nerve and lung cell damage for a decade.

He said: "The current techniques to keep these cells alive are tedious and labour-intensive.

"Keeping the cells alive is so difficult that some people are discouraged from entering the field. It is [a] very frustrating experience for everyone."

Researchers are continuously developing new ways to use stem cells as part of medical injury treatments.

In February, scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston managed to use embryonic stem cells to treat acute lung injury in mice.

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