Source: Newsday
Date: September 14, 2007
Summary:
Newsday reports doctors have successfully created functioning heart valves from human bone marrow stem cells:
"Doctors say they are a significant step closer to producing stem-cell-generated heart valves for children, structures that can grow with the child, eliminating the need for repeat surgeries as now is the case when conventional methods are used. Medical researchers at Children's Hospital Boston say they can create the valves from stem cells derived from the bone marrow and coax those cells in the lab to grow into a complete, functioning heart valve. The process is called tissue-engineering, an area of science in which investigators are attempting to develop replacement parts for structures damaged by disease and age."
