Scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh announced today that they have discovered that adult, or post-natal, stem cells have the same ability as embryonic stem cells to multiply. Calling it a previously unknown characteristic, they said it indicates that post-natal stem cells may play an important therapeutic role.

In a news release, the hospital said "adult and post-natal stem cells are often overlooked in favor of embryonic stem cells in the national debate over the therapeutic use of stem cells. Until now, it has been generally believed that embryonic stem cells had a greater capacity to multiply than post-natal stem cells, making them more desirable to research as a potential treatment."

Johnny Huard, director of the Growth and Development Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said, "scientists have typically believed that adult or post-natal stem cells grow old and die much sooner than embryonic stem cells, but this study demonstrates that is not the case.

"The entire world is closely following the advances in stem cell research, and everyone is interested in the potential of stem cells to treat everything from diabetes to Parkinson's disease. But there are also many ethical concerns surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, concerns that you don't have with post-natal or adult stem cells."

Researchers from Children's and the University of Pittsburgh said they were able to expand post-natal stem cells to a population level comparable to that reached by researchers using embryonic stem cells.

The findings are published in the July 1 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, published by the American Society for Cell Biology.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.