'Stem cell alternative' discovered
'Stem cell alternative' discovered
2008-09-30Newsfeed
Scientists claim to have found a safer way of making powerful stem cells from ordinary skin cells.
Scientists claim to have found a safer way of making powerful stem cells from ordinary skin cells.
Researchers, led by Konrad Hochedlinger of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, carried transformative genes via a common cold virus into ordinary mouse cells. They then made them act and look like embryonic stem cells.
Scientists say that if it is possible to replicate human cells it could create a safe environment in which to test cell therapy to treat conditions such as sickle cell anaemia or Parkinson's.
Embryonic stem cells are considered the most powerful type of stem cell by experts, because they have the ability to give rise to any type of tissue. Their use is objected to in a variety of countries, such as the United States, where funding for these type of experiments is limited.
Doctors hope that they will eventually be able to make tailor-made transplants to treat diseases in people by removing a few cells, transforming them in the lab and transplanting the new tissue or organs back into the body.
Copyright © The Press Association 2008
