Two research teams (one working at Kyoto University, the other at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) have made public their landmark achievement of producing stem cells from human skin cells. The new laboratory technique is being viewed as the answer to the scientific/religious/ethical debates that have surrounded obtaining stem cells from human embryos.
Just this past summer, both teams of researchers discovered how to develop stem cells in mice, but surprised even themselves with the human cell breakthrough. The new technique reprograms skin cells, giving them the ability of embryonic stem cells to morph into many kinds of tissue. The hope is that this new development will put medical research onto the fast track, enabling patients to be treated with genetically matched healthy tissue to replace damaged cells.
Perhaps the best news of all is that, unlike the embryonic cloning method for obtaining stem cells, the new process is relatively simple and can be begun in other laboratories immediately.
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