The State Government of Victoria, Australia announced that Melbourne scientists at Monash University have developed a unique technology that can grow large numbers of blood cells from human embryonic stem cells.
The system which is more effective and cleaner than previous techniques will provide a tool for the study of blood development, much of which remains a mystery. It could also be used to produce red blood cells in the laboratory to solve the universal shortage of blood and may someday alleviate shortages of blood needed for transfusions, or provide cells for blood/bone marrow transplants for patients with leukemia or other cancers. The research will be published in the international journal Blood and be discussed at BIO 2005, the world's biggest biotechnology meeting being held in Philadelphia from June 19-22.
The team, headed by Dr Andrew Elefanty and Dr Ed Stanley, has developed a system that uses a combination of growth factors to grow large numbers of blood cells from human embryonic stem cells. While not the first laboratory to do this, their technique is faster, more reproducible and, most importantly, grows the cells in a 'clean' environment with minimal animal contamination equivalent to that seen in current therapies such as bone marrow transplants.