Research with fetal tissue so far has been limited to only a few cell types: neural stem cells, including neural crest cells; hematopoietic stem cells; and pancreatic islet progenitors.

Neural stem cells, which are numerous in the fetal brain, can be isolated and grown in an undifferentiated form in culture, and they have been shown to differentiate into the three main types of brain cells.

These cells have been used in rodent models of Parkinson’s disease.

Neural crest cells arise from the neural tube and migrate from it throughout the developing fetus. They are able to develop into multiple cell types, including the nerves that innervate the heart and the gut, non-neural cells of hormone-secreting glands, pigment cells of the skin, cartilage and bone in the face and skull, and connective tissue in many parts of the body. Neural crest cells from mice have been cultured in the laboratory. [Read more...]