Pro-Life Infonet - New York, NY -- In the midst of the debate over whether stem cells should
be harvested from embryos, researchers have found what could be a
``limitless'' stem-cell supply--the ever-growing fat deposits of the human
body.

Most importantly for the pro-life community, this could provide an ethical
pro-research alternative to killing unborn children as a means to obtain
stem cells for research.

In cell culture experiments, investigators found they could coax primitive
fat cells to grow into bone cells, suggesting that fat could someday
provide stem cells that can develop into a range of body tissue. The sheer
abundance of human fat makes this approach particularly attractive,
according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia. Dr. Louis P. Bucky and colleagues presented their work
Tuesday in Los Angeles at a meeting of the American Society of Plastic
Surgeons.

Bucky told Reuters Health that the ``beauty of fat'' is that there is a
lot of it and it is easy to get at, unlike stem cells from bone marrow.

``This is a potentially unlimited source of cells to turn into mature
cells of different types,'' Bucky said.

Bucky's team used stem cells harvested from abdominal fat in their
experiments. By exposing the cells to growth factors that promote bone
development, the researchers were able to create bone cells. If further
research shows fat stem cells can actually become bone, they could be used
to treat all types of bone defects and injuries, according to Bucky. He
noted that other researchers are currently looking at whether fat stem
cells can form muscle.

Such research could also give a purpose to fat left over from liposuction.
In another study reported on at the meeting, scientists grew cartilage
cells from fat stem cells taken from liposuction samples. Dr. Prosper
Benhaim of the University of California at Los Angeles led that study.

``In the future, liposuction may provide an abundant source of stem cells
that are easily obtained,'' Benhaim noted in a statement.