Source: University of California - Los Angeles
Date: December 8, 2011
Summary:
Using a specially designed facility, UCLA stem cell scientists have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process. The study represents the first time scientists have derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with the potential for clinical use and differentiated them into neurons in animal origin–free conditions using commercially available reagents to facilitate broad application, said Saravanan Karumbayaram, the first author of the study and an associate researcher with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA. The study was published Dec. 7 in the early online edition of the inaugural issue of the peer-reviewed journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, a new journal that seeks to bridge stem cell research and clinical trials.
