VANCOUVER, April 2, 2002 (LSN.ca) – Canadian researchers appear to have solved a persistent problem with research involving adult stem cells taken from blood. Due to the rarity in blood of hematopoietic stem cells many researchers believed their value to be limited. However, University of British Columbia professor Keith Humphries and his colleagues were able to get the stem cells to reproduce by inserting a gene called HOXB4.
“We're getting 40- to 100-fold increases,” said Dr. Humphries who leads his team at the BC Cancer Agency which announced the findings today. The National Post reports that the researchers pointed to a study involving mice and blood stem cells in order to demonstrate the significance of their finding. In the study at the Terry Fox Lab in Vancouver mice had their blood systems destroyed by radiation and then rebuilt using blood stem cells grown in the lab. “They're now perfectly healthy,” said Dr. Humphries.