The genetic mutation responsible for a blood clotting disorder known as hemophilia B is among two embryonic stem cell lines created by the University of Michigan and believed to be the first in the world to carry the disease, officials announced Thursday.
The two stem cell lines are among six new lines created by U-M and added to the national registry, bringing the total number of lines the university has created to eight.
The lines are available for federally funded research by scientists across the country to study the origin and potential treatments for diseases such as Huntington’s disease, a fatal brain disorder, and a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes sudden death in athletes and others.
“Our last three years of work have really begun to pay off, paving the way for scientists worldwide to make novel discoveries that will benefit human health in the near future,” says Gary Smith, Ph.D., who derived the lines and also is co-director of the U-M Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies, part of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.
