This ought to make everyone happy... a revolutionized way to stem cell research.

It was in the newspaper today...thought you all might like some good news. Now this should end the political footballing that goes with it. Thank God! One FOR America!!!

Stem Cell Alchemy Refined

Scientists may have found a safer way of giving a flake of skin the biologically alchemical powers of embryonic stem cells.

They turned adult cells into versatile, embryonic-like cells without causing permanent damage -- potentially solving the central problem of a promising but uncertain field of stem cell science.

"This is certainly a major stem cell milestone," said Advanced Cell Technologies chief scientific officer Bob Lanza, who was not involved in the research. "It’s the first ray of light that iPS cells could soon be used to treat patients."

These iPS cells -- short for induced pluripotent stem cell -- debuted less than a year ago: By using viruses to insert key developmental genes, researchers coaxed human skin cells into an embryonic state, capable of growing into almost any other type of tissue.

It was the biggest stem cell breakthrough in a decade. No longer would tricky -- and ethically controversial -- manufacturing procedures be required to produce ultra-versatile stem cells. Cloning wouldn't be needed to produce personally customized embryonic stem cell lines, which remain as elusive as they are promising.

But there was a catch: Viruses used to reset the cells tended to fuse with their DNA, leading to unpredictable mutations and cancer. The cells were promising in principle, but couldn't be used medically. The standard iPS technique was a blunt and damaging instrument.

The new technique doesn't cause permanent genetic alterations; it's a scalpel that leaves no scar behind. And though important caveats remain -- the procedure, published today in Science, was performed on mice -- it has made safe iPS cells a realistic possibility.

"Clinical translation of iPS technology has been dead in its tracks," said Lanza. "The use of iPS cells to treat -- or even cure -- human disease may not be far away."

To produce their iPS cells, the researchers added cell-reprogramming genes to adenoviruses, a type of virus that infects cells without affecting their DNA. The adenoviruses pumped out cell-reprogramming proteins, turning the cells embryonic, and then departed.

"You produce proteins for a while, but over time -- with cell division -- both DNA proteins are diluted out from the cell," said Konrad Hochedlinger, a Harvard Medical School cell biologist and co-author of the study. "You end up with a genetically unmodified iPS cell."

Hochedlinger's team grew the cells into lung, brain and heart tissue -- benchmark measurements of versatility -- and used the cells to create mouse embryos, which they allowed to develop. Those mice remained cancer-free for four months. That's not long enough to be completely certain of their safety, but it's reassuring nonetheless.

"Some published reports on mice made with retrovirally produced iPS cells succumbed to tumors as early as four weeks after birth," said Hochedlinger.

Old-fashioned iPS cells, said Lanza, would never have been safe enough for FDA approval. But he warned that duplicating Hochedlinger's feat "may be a challenge -- and far more difficult -- in the human system."

Some politicians and bioethicists, including Republican presidential candidate John McCain, have hoped that iPS cells would soon make embryonic stem cell research unnecessary. But stem cell scientists say it's too soon to compare embryonic stem cells, which have been studied for more than a decade, with iPS cells. It's also possible that both of types of cell, as well as adult stem cells, will provide therapies that the other types cannot.

"There are still a lot of unknowns, and we cannot afford to put all our eggs in one basket," said Lanza, while Hochedlinger called embryonic stem cells the "gold standard."

But the findings are still a testament to the rapidly developing field of iPS research, which in less than a year has gone from proof-of-principle to mouse therapies to the latest refinement.

"I have never seen a field move forward as fast as this one," said Hochedlinger.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/stem-cell-alche.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080922122429.htm

There is alot of hope attached to the stem cell research, I genuinely wish for some success. Just think, with the research thats being done, guys like Reagan, Reeves and others could have had some relief.

That is great news. It definitely is a start. I hope that in time, it will work out.

The embryonic cells are undifferentiated. It will be interesting to see how human manipulation of the cells will turn out in the long run.

When my child was born, I donated the umbilical cord to the Children's Hospital to used for either a sick child or research.

FYI - Christopher Reeve was treated in the Spinal Cord Injury Program at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

That's the University where the Palin/Biden debate is going to take place.