Lab-grown stem cells can repair muscle injury and disease, study shows

Mice with muscle-wasting disorder injected with stem cells ran twice as far on mini treadmills

Human muscle stem cells that are capable of renewing themselves and repairing muscle tissue damage in mice have been developed by scientists (University of Bath)

Scientists have cultivated human muscle stem cells capable of renewing themselves and repairing muscle tissue damage in mice, an advance that may lead to new ways of treating wasting disorders in people.

In the research, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, scientists genetically reprogrammed lab-cultured human skin cells into a more primitive state in which they can develop into almost any type of cell in the body.

These primitive cells – known as induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells – were mixed with a solution of standard cell growth factors and nutrients to nudge them to differentiate into specific cell types, say the researchers, including those from Johns Hopkins University in the US.