|  |  |  | | | | £800,000 BOOST TO EDINBURGH'S PIONEERING STEM CELL RESEARCH | | | | |
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Release Date: 31st July 2003
One of the greatest wonders of humankind is how a single cell - the all important stem cell - can transform itself into all the highly specialised organs and tissues of the body.
Scientists have already shown that the human embryo develops a functioning blood system around three weeks after fertilisation. A team of Leukaemia Research scientists at the University of Edinburgh is studying a type of mature stem cell which is committed to creating all of the blood cells in the body - a blood stem cell.
They are carrying out pioneering laboratory work to show precisely which genes cause these blood stem cells to develop in to all the different types of human blood cells.
Based at the Western General Hospital, they also want to pinpoint what makes these blood stem cells replicate themselves in the body.
Armed with a grant of £800,000 from Leukaemia Research (LRF), this work will enable them to uncover crucial information on a host of life threatening blood diseases, including the cancers leukaemia and lymphoma.
Billions of new blood cells - red cells, white cells, and platelets - are made every day from a small number of blood stem cells. A similar number will of mature cells die in a process called natural cell death. Complex communication between cells maintains this delicate balance. Faults within these stem cells can upset the system leading to the overproduction of blood cells and eventually leukaemia or lymphoma.
Dr Lesley Forrester, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the LRF Research Programme, said: "We aim to uncover the subtle chemical signals that stimulate the production of different blood cells.
"We are part of a team of stem cell experts here in Edinburgh and we are confident that our work will uncover crucial information about the way leukaemia and other blood disorders develop."
Dr David Grant, Leukaemia Research Scientific Director, said: "Edinburgh is developing into one of the UK's leading centres for stem cell research. We badly need new and imaginative ways of tackling leukaemia and related illnesses - and this is what this research is about.
"Once we know why blood production can become faulty, we can look for simple and effective ways to repair the problem," he adds.
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