Are breast milk stem cells the real deal?

摘要

Proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins are all on the menu for a breastfed baby. Now it seems you can add stem cells to that list. Evidence is piling up that both breast milk and breast tissue contain embryonic-like stem cells. That might mean we will soon have access to a source of stem cells without destroying embryos. This would be a boon as stem cells can turn into any type of human tissue, making them useful for treating degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's or for regrowing damaged heart muscle. In 2011 Foteini Hassiotou at the University of Western Australia in Crawley and colleagues found stem cells in lactating breast tissue and breast milk. When they grew the breast milk cells they turned into the three types of cells from which all tissues and organs develop - just like human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) do.