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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;297:795.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As the debate over federal funding for embryonic stem cell research continues in the United States, scientists have found a new source of pluripotent stem cells—amniotic fluid—that steers clear of the ethics of embryo destruction.

Amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells can be coaxed to become muscle, bone, fat, blood vessel, nerve, and liver cells and might therefore be valuable for therapy, according to recent research (De Coppi P et al. Nat Biotechnol. 2007;25:100-106).

Scientists have found that stem cells can be isolated from amniotic fluid and coaxed to become a variety of different cell types. (Photo credit: AJPhoto/www.sciencesource.com)

INTERMEDIATE STEM CELLS

While scientists have known that multiple progenitor cell types from the embryo can be found in the placenta and amniotic fluid, it has taken 7 years to develop and refine techniques to isolate the 1% of cells within the amniotic fluid that are stem cells. Investigators . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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