MEN of a nervous disposition, steel yourselves. The testes could be a good source of cells as versatile as embryonic stem cells (ESCs), currently only available from human embryos. ESCs have the potential to develop into any tissue in the body, so a way of obtaining them that is ethically acceptable to everyone would open up the possibility of creating new tissue to repair damaged organs.
Gerd Hasenfuss of the University of G枚ttingen, Germany, took cells from adult mouse testes which normally grow into sperm, and converted them into ESC-like cells by growing them in a broth of growth factors and nutrients (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature04697).
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the process of doing this in humans, and we are optimistic,鈥� says Hasenfuss, though it鈥檚 not something men are likely to enjoy much. The procedure is said to be painful, requiring a general anaesthetic.
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