How scientists may have thwarted the controversy
By Melinda Wenner Moyer Posted 09.18.2008 at 12:55 pm 4 Comments

Stem Cell Andrew Paul Leonard/Photo Researchers

Embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed to turn into any kind of cell type, have been hailed as a 21st-century panacea. But they are fraught with ethical problems because they come from embryos. Last November, two teams of scientists turned ordinary adult skin cells into pluripotent stem cells—capable of becoming any kind of tissue—a feat that could solve the ethical problem forever. Here’s how one group did it.

1. The scientists, led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan, identified 24 genes that are active in embryonic stem cells but not in adult cells. They deposited combinations of the 24 genes into the DNA of adult mouse skin cells.

2. They found that just four of the original 24 genes will turn adult cells into stem cells. The scientists aren’t quite sure what the genes do. They think two of the genes code for proteins that encourage further protein synthesis.

3. The scientists repeated their experiment on human adult skin cells using the same four genes as in the mouse model. The human cells also turned into stem cells and then differentiated into brain and heart cells.

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4 Comments

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1Slyfox
09/19/08 at 12:45 am

I can only say, "Bravo"! Keep up your fantastic work!

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hgatlin
10/13/08 at 5:10 pm

This is a really great development. Stem cells should be the future of science, and I am really excited that scientists have found a way to continue research without the question of ethics. Stem cells will be a huge help to most people in the world after they become widely used and now we do not have to use embryos to get them. I hope scientists keep studying stem cells and ways that we can benefit from them. In my opinion most of the resources in science should be dedicating to researching things that will help people out. That is why this makes me happy. Way to go!

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alsleme
10/20/08 at 3:49 pm

thnk you 2 much

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stemcellblogger
05/06/09 at 8:47 am

FORESKINS INTO IPSc

"This is not the first time that scientists have endowed differentiated cells like skin cells with the capacity to develop into any of the roughly 220 types of cells in the body, a process known as induced pluripotency. However, it is the first time that they have done so without using viruses, which can insert potentially harmful genes into the cells’ genetic material and trigger cancer."

"...uses a plasmid, a circle of DNA, and cells from the FORESKINS of newborns...free of any genetic debris which could cause problems."

via www.repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/news-stem-cell-pioneer-thomsons-lab-achieves-fairly-big-milestone/

David Granovsky, Stemcellblogger



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