New stem cell can grow into any body part

MELBOURNE: In a breakthrough, scientists have discovered a new stem cell that can be programmed to become any part of the body.

The stem cell is a type of pluripotent cell, one of the most useful for researchers and clinicians, scientists said.

These cells can be programmed to become any cell type in the body, from brain to heart, and can be used to grow new organs and tissue for transplant, theage.com.au reported.

The findings mark a big step in stem cell science and could usher in a new era of regenerative medicine.

"These are remarkably useful cells, because you can apply them to several different areas of medicine," molecular biologist Thomas Preiss, from the Australian National University, said.

The breakthrough is particularly good news for the research and treatment of conditions associated with tissue damage and cell loss such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, stroke and spinal cord injury.

The newly identified stem cell had also proved easier to grow in large quantities and to manipulate than traditional cells, which need to be grown in complex and expensive solutions, Preiss said.

Pluripotent stem cells are also an alternative to embryonic stem cells, which are also able to grow into any type of cell in the body but are often controversial, given the ethical questions that surround them.

The study was published in the journal Nature.