Human urine could become very valuable to doctors soon

• Doctors usually derive stem cells from bone marrow or fat.
• That process is invasive and painful.
• Study has confirmed regenerative potential of urine-derived stem cells.

A new study has shown that human urine-derived stem cells might have the capacity to become convert into different types of cells.

Stem cells are undifferentiated, which means they are in early stages and can become anything. These are mostly common in embryos and are later specialised into tissues and then specific organs.

It is difficult to obtain these cells. They are usually taken from bone marrow or fat through invasive and painful procedures. However, those days might soon be over.

A study by experts from Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology shows that the stem cells from human urine have regenerative potential.

This could be a medical breakthrough because it would make obtaining stem cells way easier than before.

The researchers of the study found around 140 clonal stem cells can be collected from urine over a 24-hour period.

While that is not a lot, in the laboratory, the same 140 cells expanded to more than 100 million within three weeks.

Further research is required to be able to actually use stem cells derived from human urine in a clinical setting.