TimmyHA Stem-Cell Revolution
December 1st 2008 06:56
Scientists at Harvard University recently announced a much anticipated milestone in regenerative medicine: the creation of stem cells from patients with a variety of diseases. The cells, which can be encouraged to develop into cell types damaged by disease, such as the insulin-producing cells in diabetes or neurons in Parkinson's, are poised to give scientists an unprecedented view of disease.
Scientists have hoped to create such cells for more than a decade, initially attempting the feat through human cloning. But cloning proved more challenging than expected, and it wasn't until the introduction of a novel technique, developed recently in Japan, that they succeeded. By exposing a patient's skin cells to four genetic factors found in the developing embryo, scientists can turn back the clock, triggering the cells to look and behave like embryonic stem cells. Known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), they eliminate the need for human eggs or the creation or destruction of embryos, thus bypassing major ethical and technical hurdles that have plagued the field of embryonic stem-cell research.
The scientists who created the cells at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, including George Daley and Kevin Eggan, now plan to distribute them to colleagues around the world.
TechnologyReview.com
By Emily Singer
Doug Melton
Scientists have hoped to create such cells for more than a decade, initially attempting the feat through human cloning. But cloning proved more challenging than expected, and it wasn't until the introduction of a novel technique, developed recently in Japan, that they succeeded. By exposing a patient's skin cells to four genetic factors found in the developing embryo, scientists can turn back the clock, triggering the cells to look and behave like embryonic stem cells. Known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), they eliminate the need for human eggs or the creation or destruction of embryos, thus bypassing major ethical and technical hurdles that have plagued the field of embryonic stem-cell research.
The scientists who created the cells at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, including George Daley and Kevin Eggan, now plan to distribute them to colleagues around the world.
TechnologyReview.com
By Emily Singer
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