Stem cells might heal damaged lungs.

• Position: Respiratory Disease - Brief article

Collectively, diseases of the airways--such as emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, and cystic fibrosis--are the second-leading cause of death worldwide. More than 35,000,000 Americans suffer from chronic respiratory disease. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, have proposed a new direction that could lead to the development of a method for alleviating some of the discomfort of these patients. The study's findings, which appear in Nature Medicine, show how it might be possible to use embryonic stem cells to repair damaged lung tissue.

The research began with an insight: certain stem cells that normally reside in the lungs are highly similar to those in bone marrow. In each organ, stem cells, rather than being distributed throughout the tissue, are concentrated in special compartments that contain all of the provisions that stem cells need. 'That understanding suggested to us that we might be able to apply our knowledge of techniques for transplanting bone marrow stem cells to repairing lung tissue," explains Yair Reisner, professor in the Department of Immunology.

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