Scientist reprogram normal skin cells into embryonic stem cells

[Bluenoise]

It's a pretty amazing discovery.

 

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v447/n7145/full/447618a.html

 

I think they even took a bunch of mouse skin cells, reprogramed them into an ebryonic state placed them together impregnated a mouse with them and a chimeric mouse was born from the cells!!

 

Pretty amazing breakthrough...

[CharonY]

Yeah it is not precisely my field of expertise but when I read the first paper (Takahashi and Yamanaka) I was pretty excited. My first thought, however was that hopefully it wouldn't be a fraud case (as Hwang).

But now that more papers are popping up also from another group (and due to the ease of actually creating them), the hopes are high. Of course these cells are not as stable as embryonic ones, due to the fiddling in their transcription machinery, but an important thing nonetheless.

 

Bloody hell, this stuff fascinated me so much that I actually sound like a salesman.

[muchado]

I think those papers (two in Nature by Yamanaka's and Jaenisch's groups and a third in first edition of Cell Stem Cell by Hochedlinger's group) were totally mind blowing.

 

Nonetheless, there seem to be alot of obstacles that we have to overcome specially tumor formation after transplantation.