LONDON, ONTARIO-- Stem cell research is often controversial - a minefield of ethical concerns surrounds its use of aborted fetuses and human embryos. New research may change all that - allowing researchers to grow adult stem cells in a lab.

Researchers at the J.P. Robarts Research Institute in London, Ontario, take credit as the first to accomplish that feat. Dr. Mickie Bhatia and his colleagues took a protein known to make embryonic stem cells reproduce, and used it on adult stem cells.

Adults have small numbers of stem cells in their bone marrow or other parts of the body, but the cells appear to be in a slow-growth mode, not reproducing as they did in the embryonic stage.

But once given the protein, they started to grow and reproduce.

The protein in question has the different name of 'sonic hedgehog,' the legacy of the video-game-loving scientist who discovered it.

Other effects

Apart from easing ethical concerns, the discovery may make life easier for cancer patients.

Before undergoing chemotherapy, patients often have bone marrow cells removed by their doctors. The cells are cultured, to be reinjected after the chemo treatment.

By adding the sonic hedgehog protein to bone marrow cultures, marrow cells may grow more quickly, giving a bigger boost to patients' recovery.

The work will be published this week in the journal Nature Immunology.

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