University of Wisconsin, Kyoto University Scientists Make HUGE Stem Cell Breakthrough

[BadgerLaw2010]

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1685965,00.html?cnn=yes

>> Before Dolly, no one thought it was possible to turn back time, especially where biology was concerned. Once a cell started on its march of development, nothing, absolutely nothing, scientists thought, could turn it around again. Dolly, the cloned sheep, proved this biological maxim wrong in 1996, when Ian Wilmut was able to coax an aging mammary cell to become an entirely new sheep by giving it a home in a hollowed-out egg. And since every scientific experiment just begets more experiments, Dolly's birth got researchers to wondering: If the egg can reprogram a cell, is it possible to tease out exactly what age-reversing factors the oocyte uses, and mix up a Fountain of Youth cocktail that would work on any cell without the need for an egg?

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The answer is a resounding yes, as evidenced by two groundbreaking papers published on Tuesday. In the journal Cell, Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University reports success in turning back the clock on cheek cells from a middle-aged woman, while James Thomson of University of Wisconsin, the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells, achieved the same feat with foreskin cells from a newborn baby. The achievements completely reset the boundaries of the stem cell debate, because both groups generated cells that looked and acted like embryonic stem cells, but without the need for eggs, embryos or ethical quandaries about where the cells came from. "I think this is the future of stem cell research," says Dr. John Gearhart, the biologist who first discovered human fetal embryonic stem cells. "It's absolutely terrific."
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Grow your own replacement parts someday? Maybe. This is awesome.

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Rawr, go badgers!

[fenriswolf]

1. really cool

1 possible bad thing i have to this stunning revelation is do we really need rejuvination potions? the globe is overpopulated enough.

[midnight]

2. This is interesting. I have been following a procedure that is

being developed for the spine using this technique. I hope they start to see some results. I've been waiting for six years.

[madrchsod]

3. i see madison is getting a brand new bio lab....

ya--go badgers!

[rockymountaindem]

4. Hydrogen cars, stem cells... must be science day on DU

Good news coming from our scientist friends is really great! In fact, if it weren't for the crappy economy and the seemingly endless national debt we've racked up I'd be optimistic about the future :)

[LiberalFighter]

5. Now they need research to create a way to speed up the aging process

that only works for Republicans.