Adult stem cell

Scientists have found a new source of adult stem cells in human hair that may one day help cure Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

‘Just a few days after it was put in they could see it had actually grown into her body.’
–Matthew Hill on a windpipe transplant using stem cells

When a 2001 federal funding freeze crippled research into the use of embryonic stem cells to treat medical conditions, molecular biologists began searching for alternatives. Now, they may have found one: By reprogramming adult skin cells, researchers have produced stem cells, but in recent studies, the cells produced tumors in mice.

Doctors in Spain said today they’ve accomplished something unprecedented. They removed the windpipe of a woman with respiratory disease and replaced it with a new airway created, in part, in the laboratory. The World’s Gerry Hadden has the story.

In Zimbabwe, the water taps are dry. The country’s water system is old and broken. Many Zimbabweans are forced to dig their own wells and use water that’s not clean. That’s exposing people to disease. We have this report from Harare.