A PERSON'S organs can be used after they die, and now their stem cells might be harvested too. Huge numbers of stem cells can be mined from bone marrow up to five days after death and used in a variety of life-saving treatments.
Human bone marrow contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which can develop into a variety of cell types, including bone, cartilage and fat. They can be transplanted from one person to another, with the type of cell they form depending on where in the body they are injected. Cells injected into the heart, for example, can become healthy cardiac tissue, a useful therapy for people with chronic heart conditions.
Unlike other tissue transplants, MSCs tend not to be rejected by the recipient's immune system. In fact, MSCs appear to pacify immune cells. This has ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.