Menstrual Blood Mends Hearts

Japanese researchers, using stem cell-like cells sampled from menstrual blood, were able to cultivate the cells and coax them to spontaneously beat like heart muscle tissue. While the cells found in the menstrual blood lack the totipotency of stem cells, they are able to differentiate into muscle tissue, a quality that may one day allow doctors to treat diseases like muscular dystrophy and heart conditions. These menstrual cells are more easily obtained than embryonic or bone marrow stem cells, and if women are transplanted with tissue cultured from their own cells, this technology could potentially sidestep the problem of immune system rejection of foreign tissue.