Source: Daily Telegraph
Posted: June 28, 2007 6:00pm BST
Summary:
The Daily Telegraph reports British scientist have discovered a type of mouse embryonic stem cell that is similar to human embryonic stem cells:
"A crucial advance in stem cell research, reported today by British scientists, will shave years off efforts to turn the cells into treatments for a vast range of ailments such as diabetes and cystic fibrosis, without the need to use human embryos. Scientists around the world are racing to turn stem cells into nerve, muscle and many other cell types. The long-term hope is to use them to grow tissue cells to repair damaged bodies. Now two independent teams at Cambridge and Oxford universities have discovered a type of embryonic stem cell in mice and rats which is strikingly similar to human embryonic stem cells. 'This new type provides the missing link between mouse and human embryonic stem cells,' said Prof Roger Pedersen, whose Medical Research Council-funded laboratory led the Cambridge study."
