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US researchers have found a way to dramatically increase the harvest of stem cells from adult tissue.

The research was done using fibroblast skin cells

It is a practical step forward in techniques to produce large numbers of stem cells without using embryos.

Using three drug-like chemicals, the team made the procedure 200 times more efficient and twice as fast, the Nature Methods journal reported.

It is hoped stem cells could one day be widely used to repair damaged tissue in diseases and after injuries.

Much of the work on stem cells has focused on those taken from embryos as they have an unlimited capacity to become any of the 220 types of cell in the human body – a so-called pluripotent state.

But this has proven controversial and some campaigners have objected to their use on the grounds that it is unethical to destroy embryos in the name of science.

The creation of stem cells from human adult skin cells was first reported in 2007 by Japanese and US researchers, opening the way for new sources of stem cells. Read more…