The new pluripotent cells could prove a boon to regenerative
medicine
Researchers from the UCLA Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology have isolated a new population of primitive, stress-resistant human
pluripotent stem cells that are easily derived from fat tissue and are able to
differentiate into virtually every cell type in the human body without genetic
modification.
The cells, called multi-lineage stress-enduring stem cells
from adipose tissue (Muse-AT), were discovered by "scientific
accident" when a piece of equipment failed in the laboratory, killing all
the stem cells in an experiment except the Muse-AT cells.