Breast Milk Stem Cells To Save The Day. No, Srsly.

How do we get around all those nasty ethical hang-ups (for some) surrounding stem cells? How about breast milk. That’s right, breast milk.

io9:

Researchers at the University of Western Australia first found stem cells in breast milk back in 2008, but the full potential of that discovery is only now becoming clear. The team has grown lab cultures of these stem cells and discovered that they can take on properties almost like those of embryonic stem cells.

In particular, these breast milk stem cells can develop into any of the three embryonic germ layers, known as the endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. In embryonic stem cells, it’s from these three layers that the cells can then develop into any of the 220 different cell types found in the body. This quality, known as pluripotency, is what makes embryonic stem cells specifically so powerful as a tool in regenerative medicine.

Now it seems that breast milk stem cells could be just as pluripotent as their embryonic counterparts, with few to none of the ethical concerns that have engulfed the use of embryonic stem cells. Team member Foteini Hassiotou comments:

“They can become bone cells, joint cells, fat cells, pancreatic cells that produce their own insulin, liver cells that produce albumin and also neuronal cells. What is really amazing is that these cells can be obtained in quite large amounts in breast milk.”

Oh science, sometimes you’re too good to be true. If you’re still interested, you can read more here.