Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: October 1, 2009
Summary:
Umbilical cord blood cells can successfully be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells, setting the basis for the creation of a comprehensive bank of tissue-matched, cord blood-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for off-the-shelf applications, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Spain.
"Cord blood stem cells could serve as a safe, "ready-to-use" source for the generation of iPS cells, since they are easily accessible, immunologically immature and quick to return to an embryonic stem cell-like state," says Juan-Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory, who led the study published in the October issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
