http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2102393,00.html
 
Testicles may provide a better kind of stem cell
By Mark Henderson
March 25, 2006
 
 
Men may be carrying in their testicles an almost limitless supply of spare part cells for treating disease and injury, research has suggested.
 
 
Scientists in Germany have successfully isolated a new kind of stem cell from the testes of adult mice that can grow into a full range of tissue types, offering a possible alternative to embryonic stem (ES! ) cells for medical therapies.
 
If the findings are repeated in people, it could become possible to harvest the cells from testicles and grow them into specialised tissues for treating conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and paralysis.
 
As the cells would come from the patient’s own body, they would be a precise genetic match and would not risk rejection. This source of tissue would thus remove any need for therapeutic cloning.
 
The study will be published next week in Nature.
www.timesonline.co.uk/health