Bone marrow made in the lab to treat leukemia

January 25, 2014  17:38

For decades, doctors have been treating leukemia patients by transplanting stem cells from people with healthy bone marrow. But even though transplants can be a fairly effective treatment, there aren't enough tissue donors to treat every leukemia patient, Fox News reports.

Now, researchers are taking the first steps toward making bone marrow in a lab: They are growing stem cells in a setting that mimics the natural environment of bone marrow.

But creating bone marrow in a lab isn't easy. "Bone marrow is very complex, with many, many different cell types, molecules, proteins," said study researcher Cornelia Lee-Thedieck, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.

In the new lab work, the researchers recreated the spongy structure of bone marrow by making a hydrogel (like the material used to make contact lenses) around salt crystals, and then removing the crystals to leave holes for the stem cells to grow inside. They then added proteins and cells that support stem cells. Finally, they injected stem cells taken from umbilical-cord blood.

Next, the researchers hope to grow the cells in the artificial environment for longer periods.  

This method of growing stem cells still needs to be refined and tested in both animals and clinical trials before being used in humans. The soonest this treatment could be ready is in 15 years, if all goes smoothly, Lee-Thedieck said.

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