UCLA stem cell scientists reprogram human skin cells into embryonic ...(leted at about the same time the Yamanak...),Health

These new techniques to develop stem cells could potentially replace a controversial method used to reprogram cells, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), sometimes referred to as therapeutic cloning. To date, therapeutic cloning has not been successful in humans. However, top stem cell scientists worldwide stress that further research comparing these reprogrammed cells with stem cells derived from embryos, considered the gold standard, is necessary. Additionally, many technical problems, such as the use of viruses to deliver the four genes for reprogramming, need to be overcome to produce safe iPS cells that can be used in the clinic.

Reprogramming normal human cells into cells with identical properties to those in embryonic stem cells without SCNT may have important therapeutic ramifications and provide us with another valuable method to develop human stem cell lines, said Lowry, an assistant professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology, a Broad Stem Cell Center researcher and first author of the study. It is important to remember that our research does not eliminate the need for embryo-based human embryonic stem cell research, but rather provides another avenue of worthwhile investigation.

The combination of four genes used to reprogram the skin cells regulate expression of downstream genes and either activate or silence their expression. The reprogrammed cells were not just functionally identical to embryonic stem cells. They also had identical biological structure, expressed the same genes and could be coaxed into giving rise to the same cell types as human embryonic stem cells.

The UCLA research team included four young scientists recruited
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