Scientists believe they've discovered stem cells in the lung that can make a wide variety of the organ's tissues, a finding that might open new doors for treating emphysema and other diseases.

When these human cells were injected into mice, they showed their versatility by rebuilding airways, air sacs and blood vessels within two weeks. One expert called the result "amazing."

While stem cells have been found in bone marrow and some other parts of the body, it hasn't been clear whether such a versatile cell existed in the lung. Experts not involved in the study stressed that the work must be confirmed by further research and that it's too soon to make any promises about therapies. But they said it could be a significant advance in a difficult field of research.

"These are remarkable findings, and they have extraordinary implications," said Dr. Alan Fine of Boston University, who called the mouse results amazing. "But it has to be replicated."

Stem cells can produce a wide variety of specialized kinds of cells. Scientists are working to harness them as repair kits for fixing damage from diseases like Parkinson's and diabetes.

The lung work at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is reported in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

ANOTHER REASON TO DISLIKE BEDBUGS

Anyone who has ever had a bedbug infestation knows what a nuisance the pests can be. Unlike ticks and mosquitoes, however, bedbugs are not known to spread disease, and they are generally not viewed as a major public health threat.

But a peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in a journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that the pests could play a role in disease transmission. In a tiny sample of bedbugs, collected from patients living in crowded conditions in an impoverished neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, researchers found the drug-resistant bacteria known as MRSA.

The researchers and doctors at a Vancouver hospital tested three patients from the high drug-use neighborhood who were infested with bedbugs. They collected five bedbugs and determined that the insects carried two types of drug-resistant bacteria. Three bedbugs from one patient contained methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and two from the other patients each contained vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE).

In recent years, bedbugs have made an alarming comeback,

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