Re: Are there any pluripotent stem cells found in Umbilical Cord Blood?

The answer to your question is yes.  There are pluripotent stem cells found 
in human umbilical cord blood.  These cells are hematopoietic stem cells, 
which means they give rise to cells that comprise the immune system.  The 
UCB hemaotpoietic stem cell can give rise to myeloid cells, T cells, NK 
cells, and B cells.  To my knowledge, these cells have not been induced to 
form muscle cells.
	Stem cells isolated from the brains of adult mice (Clark et al. Science 
288, Number 5471, Issue of 2 Jun 2000, pp. 1660-1663.) can give rise to 
muscle and liver cells under special culture conditions.  And, in countries 
where human embryonic research is allowed, studies of Parkinsons disease 
have shown that embryonic tissue injected into the brains of patients can 
"find" the affected area of the brain and alleviate symptoms.
	The term pluripotent refers to the capacity of a single cell to give 
rise to several different lineages of cells and renew itself.  Pluripotency 
can occur at several levels.  The penultimate pluripotent cell is the 
fertilized egg, which can give rise to every cell in the body.  Also present 
in the bone marrow (and UCB) are pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells which 
can give rise to several lineages of hematopoietic cells, but not other 
types of cells.  Cells which can give rise to three or two lineages might be 
more aptly named multipotent cells.
	The cell type which develops from the stem cell, depends on the 
environment in which these cells find themselves.  A cell which migrates to 
the bone marrow might develop into a B cell, whereas a cell which migrates 
to the thymus might develop into a T cell.  Environmental cues are crucial 
in the differentiation of these stem cells.  However, since the 
hematopoietic stem cell gives rise to hematopoietic cells, it will not give 
rise to a muscle cell, regardless of the environment in which it finds 
itself.
	You can find out more about stem cells by looking up these websites.
    1.Stem Cells: A Primer, National Institutes of Health, May 2000 - This 
primer presents background information on stem cells. http://www.nih.gov/
news/stemcell/primer.htm
	2.Scientific American: Science and the Citizen: Stem Cells Come of Age: 
July 1999. http://www.sciam.com/1999/0799issue/0799scicit4.html 
	3.Stem Cells - Web site for Stem Cells. http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/