Reuters, July 23, 2009 12:03pm EDT: "Chinese experts grow live mice from skin cells":
"Chinese researchers have managed to create powerful stem cells from mouse skin and used these to generate fertile live mouse pups. They used induced pluripotent skin cells, or iPS cells -- cells that have been reprogrammed to look and act like embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, taken from days-old embryos, have the power to morph into any cell type and, in mice, can be implanted into a mother's womb to create living mouse pups."
Time, July 23, 2009: "Mice Research Shows Promise of Adult Stem Cells":
"... two groups of scientists in China separately reported that they had created a new kind of mouse — grown entirely from a type of stem cell that originated from already mature cells, instead of from embryos. Researchers took skin cells from donor mice, reprogrammed them to revert back to an embryonic state, then programmed them again to develop into an entire mouse pup."
HealthDay News, July 23, 2009: "Scientists Use Non-Embryonic Stem Cells to Create Healthy Mice. Achievement shows how 'plastic' these cells can be, experts say":
"The mouse may be named 'Tiny,' but what it represents in the world of science is anything but that. According to Chinese researchers, the birth of Tiny (and Tiny's brethren) marks a milestone in stem cell research: Healthy, fertile animals grown using so-called pluripotent stem cells (iPS) derived not from embryonic cells, but rather cells sourced from adult mice."
Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2009: "Researchers produce cells they say are identical to embryonic stem cells":
"Two groups of Chinese researchers have performed an unprecedented feat, it was announced today, by inducing cells from connective tissue in mice to revert back to their embryonic state and producing living mice from them. By demonstrating that cells from adults can be converted into cells that, like embryonic stem cells from fetuses, have the ability to produce any type of tissue, the researchers have made a major advance toward eliminating the need for fetal cells in research and clinical applications."
Washington Post, July 24, 2009: "Researchers May Have Found Equivalent of Embryonic Stem Cells":
"Chinese scientists have bred mice from cells that might offer an alternative to human embryonic stem cells, producing the most definitive evidence yet that the technique could help sidestep many of the explosive ethical issues engulfing the controversial field but raising alarm that the advance could lead to human cloning and designer babies.
In papers published online Thursday by two scientific journals, separate teams of researchers from Beijing and Shanghai reported that they had for the first time created virtual genetic duplicates of mice using skin cells from adult animals that had been coaxed into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells."
Associated Press, July 24, 2009: "Non-embryonic stem cells pass major hurdle in mice":
"Two teams of Chinese scientists have made a major advance in mice in the development of a new kind of stem cell that doesn’t involve destroying embryos. Those cells are derived from ordinary skin cells, and when they were created two years ago from human skin and genetically reprogrammed, it was hailed as a breakthrough. But questions remained whether they could act as chameleon-like as embryonic stem cells and morph into any cell type in the body. One way to show that versatility is if the new reprogrammed stem cells could be used to produce an entire new life. And now researchers have shown they can in mice."
Cell Press, July 24, 2009: "Reprogrammed Mouse Fibroblasts Can Make A Whole Mouse":
Scientists report an important advance in the characterization of reprogrammed induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. Researchers used established methods to reprogram mouse cells to isolate five new iPSC lines, and then found that, using one of these lines, they were able to make by tetraploid complementation embryos that survived until birth, and one embryo that also survived to adulthood.
Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2009: "Chinese Scientists Reprogram Cells to Create Mice":
"Two teams of Chinese researchers working separately have reprogrammed mature skin cells of mice to an embryonic-like state and used the resulting cells to create live mouse offspring. The reprogramming may bring scientists one step closer to creating medically useful stem-cell lines for treating human disease without having to resort to controversial laboratory techniques. However, the advance poses fresh ethical challenges because the results could make it easier to create human clones and babies with specific genetic traits."
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