Fat May Provide Stem Cells

   U.S researchers disovered that fat sucked out of chunky thighs or flabby bellies might provide an easy source of stem cells. The finding may help to invent a new and promising technology.

Photo: Fat May Provide Stem Cells

   They found immature fat cells in the material removed during liposuction were easy to transform into cells called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.

   They were easier to work with than the skin cells usually used to make iPS cells, the team at Stanford University's School of Medicine in California reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

    IPS cells are made using genes that take them back in time to a more immature and pliable state. They can then be re-directed to form heart cells, bone cells, brain cells or any other type of desired cell.

   Stem cells are the body's master cell and embryonic stem cells are the most malleable, morphing into any cell type. IPS cells look very much the same, and teams are trying to make stocks of these cells to use in research and, eventually, to treat disease, Reuters reports.