Scientists in US and Japan achieve possible breakthrough on stem cells
Scientists reported in this week's Nature journal that they had found a way to reprogram mature mouse cells into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue. The research suggests that scientists could in the future similarly reprogram human cells, offering a simpler way to replace damaged cells or grow new organs for sick and injured people. The experiments, reported in two papers in the journal Nature on Wednesday, involved scientists from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the United States.
"It's very simple to do," said Dr. Charles Vacanti of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "I think you could do this actually in a college lab."
Vacanti acknowledged that the technique could conceivably provide a new potential route towards cloning people - a subject that remains highly controversial. He has no interest in doing that, he said, but "it is a concern."
http://www.dw.de/scientists-in-us-and-japan-achieve-possible-breakthrough-on-stem-cells/a-17394793
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