Stem cells criticize research results

Stem cells: Criticism of research results.

(24.06.2010) According to a report in the journal "Nature" there should be doubts that the 2008 discovered by German researchers stem cells from human testicular tissue are really pluripotent. For example, the said stem cells, which were presented in November 2008 by the team of Tübingen anatomy professor Thomas Skutella to the public in the journal "Nature" in the article "Generation of pluripotent stem cells from adult human testis" (Issue 456 doi: 10.1038 / nature07404) be normal connective tissue cells.

Colleagues, such as the Director of the Max Planck Institute, Hans R. Schöler, wrote a critical article in Nature entitled "Human adult germline stem cells in question" (Issue 465 doi: 10.1038 / nature09089), where they call the then approach unscientific and not transparent.

The background is that from such cells, which are considered "all-rounder", tissue can be bred, which can be used in certain diseases. For example, in Parkinson's disease, a disease in which, among other things, body processes are slowed down and in public by affected celebrities such as Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali or the father of Twilight star Robert Pattinson, became known.

Other researchers also evaluated the results of Tübingen and came to the conclusion that probably Skutellas team succumbed to a confusion and had bred normal connective tissue cells. In 2008, the article by Skutella and his colleagues on the pluripotent cells had almost been a sensation, but the current doubts seem justified and slow the joy of many researchers, physicians and sufferers. (Thorsten Fischer, Naturopath Osteopathy)