Today’s interesting fact has to do with Urine and stem cells.

Recently it was discovered that while urine is for the most part sterile, it also contains a certain number of stem cells floating in the fluid.

These seem to be shed into the urine by the body.

Medical Scientists have extracted these stem cells, and by using a scaffold of collagen from a pig urethra which had all cells removed, seeded the scaffolding with these stem cells and created a new urethra that has been successfully transplanted back into the urine doner animals.

This means that in the near future, when individuals have lost a urethra through accident or disease, they may have a new one created, from their own stem cells, thereby removing any possibility of tissue rejection.

It has been suggested by some researchers, that the practice of drinking ones own urine, might help the individual, by placing these stem cells back into the body, where they might migrate to and replace tissues that are damaged.

They also say the practice of by some cultures, to urinate on wounds to promote healing, may have more to do with these stem cells, and less to the supposed sterility of said urine.

No testing on either of these suggestions has been done to date, and it is not at this time recommended.