Scientists have discovered a way to make embryonic stem cell transplants less likely to be rejected by a recipient’s immune system.

By fusing embryonic stem cells with bone marrow cells, scientists have found a recipient’s body is less likely to reject the stem cells.

Researchers transplanted bone marrow cells from a donor mouse to a recipient mouse. When they tested for the presence of the new cells, they found in addition to donor cells and recipient cells, there was a third type: fused cells. They found this third type of cells could fuse with embryonic stem cells as well as cells from the liver, kidney, heart and gut.

“This research uses bone marrow cells to fuse with patient tissues so that nothing transplanted is rejected by our immune systems, and brings universal graft survival closer to reality,” Gerald Weissman, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, was quoted as saying.