Teratomas in the NY Times June 7, 2006

An interesting article on how some scientists are planning to use teratomas for testing anti-cancer drugs, and as a source of stem cells. Teratomas are egg-derived tumours that consist of multiple tissues (the presence of fully-grown teeth in certain teratomas — I have personally observed it at Bodies exhibit in NYC — is quite fascinating). Teratoma may be ideal for testing the effect of drugs on multiple tissues simultaneously, as such testing must normally be done through full-blown clinical trials. As a bonus, teratoma contain stem cells (from which the differentiated tissues grow), which can be harvested without having to destroy any embryos.

[ click here for the article ]