Stem cell role in tissue regeneration

Scientists have reprogrammed stem cells from a key organ in the immune system, which could have implications for tissue regeneration. The study shows that it is possible to convert one stem type to another without the need for genetic modification. The research. Researchers, who used rat models, grew stem cells from the thymus - an organ important for our immune systems - in the laboratory using conditions for growing hair follicle skin stem cells. The team was from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland and the University of Edinburgh's Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Transplanting the cells. When the cells were transplanted into developing skin, they were able to maintain skin and hair for more than a year.