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Cells from the testicles of adult mice may have the same potential as embryonic stem cells to cure conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease, possibly sidestepping ethical questions on the research, a study says.

German researchers said the cells from the mice testicles have the same ability to grow into many different cell types found in the body. More studies would be needed to verify the results and determine whether the technique works in humans, said Gerd Hasenfuss and his colleagues at the Heart Center of Georg-August-University of Goettingen in a study released Friday.

Scientists say human embryonic stem cells may be able to cure a variety of diseases. Ethical concerns that the work involves destroying days-old human embryos prompted President Bush to restrict federal funding for the research and led the German government to ban it.

Hasenfuss' team now is attempting to adapt its research to humans by using tissue taken during biopsies from the testicles of adult males.

"If we can isolate these cells from the testis of human males, we would have a source of embryonic-stem-cell-like cells," Hasenfuss said. The study is to be published online by the journal Nature.

The researchers extracted cells from the testicles of adult male mice and grew them in solutions known to help embryonic cells grow into various other types.

Using this technique, the scientists were able to coax the cells to grow into heart, liver, pancreatic and other types of cells.

Transferring this approach to humans may be difficult, said Hazel Sive, a biologist at the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"They used a specifically engineered mouse line to isolate the cells, and one cannot take this approach in humans," Sive said in an e-mail.