A gift to cattle breeders
Scientists were able to obtain embryonic stem cells of cows
The long-term efforts of scientists have finally ended in success. A group of researchers was able to isolate embryonic stem cells from cows and keep them alive in cell culture. The use of these cells will open up new opportunities for the creation of cattle breeds with the desired properties, and will also make it possible to study the development of the cow's body more effectively and use cows for research purposes to simulate human diseases.
The first successful experiment in growing embryonic stem cells took place back in 1981, when cells of laboratory mice were used. This made it possible to study the early stages of their embryonic development and the influence of various genetic defects. But with other types of animals, everything turned out to be more complicated. Scientists were able to find the right medium for the cultivation of human embryonic stem cells in Petri dishes only in 1998. In most species, the isolated embryonic stem cells quickly differentiated, that is, they developed into other cell types, losing their pluripotency.
Now a group of scientists from the Salk Institute in San Diego, the University of Texas, the University of California at Davis and other institutions have been able to find out the appropriate composition of the medium for growing embryonic stem cells of cows. There were two main components in the mixture. One of them is a protein that stimulates cell growth and division, and the other substance prevents the differentiation of stem cells into cells of other types; thus, the culture medium combines an accelerator and a brake on cellular development. As a result, the cells in the laboratory maintained their pluripotent state for more than a year. For experimental testing, these cells were injected into mice with a weakened immune system. Then the mice had teratomas – tumors containing cells of various types, which serves as proof of the pluripotency of cells from this culture.
The results of the study are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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