PARIS: Scientists on Wednesday reported a simple way to turn animal cells back to a youthful, neutral state, a feat hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. The research, reported in the journal Nature, could be the third great advance in stem cells -- a futuristic field that aims to reverse Alzheimer's, cancer and other crippling or lethal diseases. The latest breakthrough comes from Japan, as did its predecessor which earned its inventor a Nobel Prize. The new approach, provided it overcomes safety hurdles, could smash cost and technical barriers in stem-cell research, said independent commentators. "If it works in man, this could be the game-changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patient's own cells as starting material," said Chris Mason, a professor of regenerative medicine at University College London. "The age of personalised medicine will have arrived." Stem cells are primitive cells that, as they grow, differentiate into the various specialised cells that make up the different organs -- the brain, the heart, the kidney and so on. The goal is to create stem cells in the lab and nudge them to grow into these differentiated … Continue reading →

This image from the journal Nature shows a mouse embryo formed with specially-treated cells from a newborn mouse that had been transformed into stem cells. If the same technique works for humans, it may provide a new way to grow tissue for treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. AP NEW YORK -- Scientists are reporting a stem cell breakthrough using a simple lab technique that may create reprogrammed cells after dipping them in acid for under 30 minutes. The technique turned ordinary cells from mice into stem cells, according to the surprising new study that hints at a possible new way to grow tissue for treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Play Video Dr. Jon LaPook goes inside the trial and approval process for an experimental treatment using stem cells designed to make Multiple Sclerosis pati... Cells from skin, muscle, fat and other tissue of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations, researchers said. (This) approach in the mouse is the most simple, lowest cost and quickest method to generate pluripotent cells from mature cells, professor Chris Mason, chair of regenerative … Continue reading →

NEW YORK: A simple lab treatment can turn ordinary cells from mice into stem cells, according to a surprising study that hints at a possible new way to grow tissue for treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease. The feat is being hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. Researchers in Boston and Japan exposed cells from spleens of newborn mice to a more acidic environment that they're used to. In lab tests, that turned them into stem cells, showing enough versatility to produce the tissues of a mouse embryo, for example. Cells from skin, muscle, fat and other tissue of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations, researchers said. Scientists hope to harness stem cells to replace defective tissue in a wide variety of diseases . By making stem cells from the patient, they can get around the problem of transplant rejection. The new approach - provided it overcomes safety hurdles - could smash cost and technical barriers in stem-cell research, said independent commentators. "If it works in man, this could be the gamechanger that … Continue reading →