Source: The Scripps Research Institute
Date: June 4, 2008
Summary:
LA JOLLA, CA, June 4, 2008—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute report that they have significantly improved upon a revolutionary technique that uses genes to turn skin cells from an adult back into pluripotent stem cells. In the June 5, 2008 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, investigators describe for the first time how they identified and used small, drug-like chemicals to help coax mouse brain cells back into pluripotent stem cells in a way that reduced some of the major drawbacks of the technique developed two years ago by Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka to produce pluripotent stem cells, once derived only from embryos, from adult cells. The new findings provide a safer, more efficient method to reprogram cells, paving the way for clinical testing of reprogrammed stem cells.
