PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 2-Jul-2014 Contact: Kristina Grifantini press@salk.edu Salk Institute LA JOLLA-Researchers around the world have turned to stem cells, which have the potential to develop into any cell type in the body, for potential regenerative and disease therapeutics. Now, for the first time, researchers at the Salk Institute, with collaborators from Oregon Health & Science University and the University of California, San Diego, have shown that stem cells created using two different methods are far from identical. The finding could lead to improved avenues for developing stem cell therapies as well as a better understanding of the basic biology of stem cells. The researchers discovered that stem cells created by moving genetic material from a skin cell into an empty egg cell-rather than coaxing adult cells back to their embryonic state by artificially turning on a small number of genes-more closely resemble human embryonic stem cells, which are considered the gold standard in the field. "These cells created using eggs' cytoplasm have fewer reprogramming issues, fewer alterations in gene expression levels and are closer to real embryonic stem cells," says co-senior author Joseph R. Ecker, professor and director of Salk's Genomic Analysis Laboratory and co-director of the Center of … Continue reading →

Wednesday 02 July 2014 14.29 Leading science journal Nature has withdrawn a flawed stem-cell study which was hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue when it was published in January. The decision was taken after mistakes were discovered in some data published in two papers, photograph captions were found to be misleading, and the work itself could not be repeated by other scientists, it said. "All co-authors of both papers have finally concluded that they can not stand behind the papers, and have decided to retract them," the journal said in an editorial. The controversy is the biggest in scientific publishing in a decade. Nature said it would tighten procedures to vet future studies submitted for publication. On 4 June, Japan's Riken research institute said lead scientist Haruko Obokata had agreed to retract the papers after an investigation. Riken was "still discussing" a retraction with co-author Charles Vacanti of Harvard University, a spokeswoman said at the time. Ms Obokata was feted after unveiling findings that appeared to show a straight-forward way to reprogramme adult cells to become stem cells - precursors that are capable of developing into any other cell in the human body. Identifying a … Continue reading →