Company claims major medical breakthrough

LONDON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A small London company says it has developed a technique that could revolutionize medicine by turning blood into a stem-cell-like state.

New Scientist magazine says if the Tristem Corp. can actually turn ordinary blood into cells capable of regenerating tissues, the process could transform the treatment of everything from heart disease to Parkinson's.

TriStem has long claimed it can take a half-liter of anyone's blood, extract the white blood cells and make them revert to a "stem-cell-like" state within hours. The cells can be turned into beating heart cells for mending hearts, nerve cells for restoring brains, etc.

But New Scientist says the company has finally provided proof at least some of its claims might be true. In collaboration with independent U.S. researchers, the company used its technique to turn white blood cells into productive, blood-generating stem cells found in bone marrow.

Tim McCaffrey, a cardiovascular researcher at George Washington University who was asked to help evaluate TriStem's claims, said: "I was extremely skeptical (but) they did it in front of my eyes with my own blood. It's stunning."

The study is to appear in the January edition of Current Medical Research and Opinion.