Found: pluripotent stem cells in testes

In the world of stem cells and cloning, men have kinda been left out of the festivities. Women seem to be a wealth of valuable tissues. From eggs needed for cloning experiments, to stem cells in menstral blood, to pluripotent stem cells from amniotic fluid, women's bodies are a virtual cornucopia of these sought after little cells.

Now, men it is your turn. Researchers have found pluripotent stem cells in mouse testes which means they may be able to find them your family jewels as well! Now don't cringe. This is good news! From the Washington Post:

U.S. researchers say they've successfully reprogrammed adult stem
cells from the testes of male mice into a wide variety of cell types,
including functional blood vessels, contractile cardiac tissue, and
brain cells.

If the same can be done with adult testes stem cells from humans,
they may offer a source of new therapies to treat men with health
problems such as heart disease, vascular diseases, diabetes, stroke,
Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and even cancer, the researchers said.

So how do these cells compare with the ever popular embryonic variety of stem cells:

"It appears that these specialized GPR125-positive spermatogonial cells
could be an easily obtained and manipulated source of stem cells with a
similar capability to form new tissues that we see in embryonic stem
cells," study author Shahin Rafii, of Weill Cornell Medical College in
New York City, said in a prepared statement.

For male patients, this "could someday mean a readily available
source of stem cells that gets around ethical issues linked to
embryonic stem cells. It also avoids issues linked to tissue transplant
rejection, since these autologous cells come from the patient's own
body," Rafii said.

Men let us recap. Theorectically, for you to be treated with pluripotent stem cells that are genetically matched for you there are two options: (Note BOTH are still in early stages of research.)

1. Harvest stem cells from your own testes and get an autologous transplant of whatever cells you need.

2. Go the SCNT or cloning route and create an embryonic clone of yourself, (exploiting women for their eggs in the process, or use a cow or rabbit egg instead) then kill that clone for its stem cells that happen to be a semi-genetic match to you and then still have to take immunosupressive drugs after the transplant because of the leftover DNA from the cow, rabbit or woman that donated the egg. Oh, and try not to grow tumors while you are at it.

Hmmm, suddenly the somatic cell nuclear transfer or cloning route doesn't seem so easy or "promising" after all. I know which route I want my tax dollars to go to.