The cells are part of an immortal stockpile of cells taken from an aborted fetus, treated with a gene taken from a monkey cancer virus, and grown in laboratory dishes by a British biotech company called ReNeuron. Tissue from one fetus could be used to treat 1,000 patients, the British Association for the Advancement of Science s annual festival, Creating Sparks, at Imperial College, London, said.
Blood clots interrupt the supply of oxygen to the brain and cells die.
Two years ago, scientists learned how to manipulate stem cells the natural machinery that allows a fertilized egg to turn into a human composed of 100 trillion cells of more than 200 different kinds. But stem cells are a challenge to science. They make new blood, liver, or nerve tissue, but there is nothing to distinguish them from the cells around them. We define them on the basis of their behavior and what we know now is that they exist throughout our lives, said Dr. John Sinden, chief scientist of ReNeuron. Stem cells are normal cells.