Bhaskar
05-15-2007, 02:42 AM
Mommy dearest: She could be a part of all of us
Mother's cells can migrate to her fetus and remain long after baby grows up
ANNE MCILROY
From Friday's Globe and Mail
May 11, 2007 at 5:19 AM EDT
There may be little bits of mom in all of us.
Cells can migrate from mother to fetus and remain in their new home long after baby becomes an adult. A number of researchers are now investigating whether these cells cause disease or fight it, and whether most of us are living with our mothers and don't know it.
"My guess is this is very common if not universal," said Lee Nelson, a pioneer in the nascent field of maternal microchimerism at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle.
It is well known that we each inherit half of our genetic material from our mothers, and the other half from our fathers - the mixture helps make us who we are.
Dr. Nelson is studying something completely different - cells from the mother that get passed on to baby and continue to thrive for decades.
They are most likely some kind of stem cells - which have the ability to become different cell types - but no one knows for sure. Maternal cells, however, make up only a small percentage of all of a person's body, less than one in a million in one study.
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More : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070511.wmom11/BNStory/Science/home
Mother's cells can migrate to her fetus and remain long after baby grows up
ANNE MCILROY
From Friday's Globe and Mail
May 11, 2007 at 5:19 AM EDT
There may be little bits of mom in all of us.
Cells can migrate from mother to fetus and remain in their new home long after baby becomes an adult. A number of researchers are now investigating whether these cells cause disease or fight it, and whether most of us are living with our mothers and don't know it.
"My guess is this is very common if not universal," said Lee Nelson, a pioneer in the nascent field of maternal microchimerism at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle.
It is well known that we each inherit half of our genetic material from our mothers, and the other half from our fathers - the mixture helps make us who we are.
Dr. Nelson is studying something completely different - cells from the mother that get passed on to baby and continue to thrive for decades.
They are most likely some kind of stem cells - which have the ability to become different cell types - but no one knows for sure. Maternal cells, however, make up only a small percentage of all of a person's body, less than one in a million in one study.
..........
More : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070511.wmom11/BNStory/Science/home