Update 1 August 2014
The paper behind this story has been retracted by Nature. The 鈥渢he original conclusions are not as robust as presented in the original paper鈥� adding 鈥渢he level of proof of pluripotency shown is not in line with regular criteria for such papers in Nature鈥�. According to the , the paper was cited 281 times. It follows another high-profile paper retracted earlier this year
Men may wince at the thought, but biopsies from human testicles have yielded stem cells that can be turned into virtually any cell in the body.
The hope is that tissue created from stem cells derived from a patient鈥檚 testicles would not be rejected when implanted elsewhere in the body. What鈥檚 more, such cells would avoid the ethical concerns surrounding embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which have the same therapeutic potential.
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A team led by Thomas Skutella at the in Germany harvested spermatogonial cells, which normally mature into sperm, from men and used a series of chemicals to turn them into various cell types (Nature, ). 鈥淲e made them into skin, structures of the gut, cartilage, bone, muscle and neurons,鈥� says Skutella.
Taking cells from the testicles sounds painful, but Skutella says such biopsies are routine in men undergoing infertility treatment. 鈥淪kin biopsies might sound more acceptable, but it hurts just as much as from the testes,鈥� he says.
In 2006, it was shown that mouse spermatogonial cells are ESC-like. Skutella鈥檚 corresponding feat in humans is 鈥渁 home run鈥� that 鈥渂ypasses the ethical and immunological problems associated with ESCs鈥�, says Robert Lanza, a stem-cell specialist at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Other researchers caution that more work is needed, as Skutella鈥檚 cells do not express all the molecular markers associated with ESCs. 鈥淭hey are not identical to embryonic stem cells,鈥� says of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research at the University of Cambridge.
Stem Cells 鈥� Learn more about the promise and the controversy in our cutting edge special report .
