Liposuction 360

STANFORD, Calif. – According to a report from UPI, it has been discovered that fat removal from liposuction surgery contains versatile cells that can be quickly and easily coaxed to become stem cells, U.S. researchers said.

Stanford University researcher, Dr. Michael Longaker. calls induced pluripotent stem cells found in liposuction leftovers “liquid gold.”

“We’ve identified a great natural resource,” Longaker said in a statement. Reprogramming adult cells to function like embryonic stem cells is one way researchers hope to create patient-specific cell lines to regenerate tissue or to study specific diseases in the laboratory, Longaker explained.

Nestled within the unwanted latticework of fat cells and collagen are multipotent cells called adipose, or fat, stem cells. Unlike highly specialized skin-cell fibroblasts, these cells in the fat have a relatively wide portfolio of differentiation options — becoming fat, bone or muscle as needed, the study said.

It’s this pre-existing flexibility, the researchers said, that gives these cells an edge over skin cells most often used by researchers.

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