Pawn Power
21st November 2007, 05:15
Two teams of scientists reported Tuesday that they had turned human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells without having to make or destroy an embryo — a feat that could quell the ethical debate troubling the field.
All they had to do, the scientists said, was add four genes. The genes reprogrammed the chromosomes of the skin cells, making the cells into blank slates that should be able to turn into any of the 220 cell types of the human body, be it heart, brain, blood or bone. Until now, the only way to get such human universal cells was to pluck them from a human embryo several days after fertilization, destroying the embryo in the process.
link (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/21/healthscience/21stem.php)
However, embrionic research will still be necessary for years to come until this technology is more developed and the results are compared to emroinic stem cells.
All they had to do, the scientists said, was add four genes. The genes reprogrammed the chromosomes of the skin cells, making the cells into blank slates that should be able to turn into any of the 220 cell types of the human body, be it heart, brain, blood or bone. Until now, the only way to get such human universal cells was to pluck them from a human embryo several days after fertilization, destroying the embryo in the process.
link (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/21/healthscience/21stem.php)
However, embrionic research will still be necessary for years to come until this technology is more developed and the results are compared to emroinic stem cells.