Stem cell 'major discovery' claimed

[maureenho]

29 January 2014 Last updated at 11:52

Stem cell 'major discovery' claimed

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Stem cell researchers are heralding a "major scientific discovery", with the potential to start a new age of personalised medicine.

Scientists in Japan showed stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid.

Stem cells can transform into any tissue and are already being trialled for healing the eye, heart and brain.

The latest development, published in the journal Nature, could make the technology cheaper, faster and safer.

The human body is built of cells with a specific role - nerve cells, liver cells, muscle cells - and that role is fixed.

However, stem cells can become any other type of cell, and they have become a major field of research in medicine for their potential to regenerate the body.

Embryos are one, ethically charged, source of stem cells. Nobel prize winning research also showed that skin cells could be "genetically reprogrammed" to become stem cells (termed induced pluripotent stem cells).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25917270

[wendy]

this is amazing

[Misspears]

tha22222

[annie]

go90

[debzsanderson]

go90 I know people that have had stem cell transplants to cure ms.  Mark has always said that if all it gave him back was the use of his arms and eyesight he would be happy.