Could this development moot a hot battle in the culture war?
Scientists reported Thursday they had developed a technique that can quickly create safe alternatives to human embryonic stem cells, a major advance toward developing a less controversial approach for treating for a host of medical problems.
The researchers published a series of experiments showing they can use laboratory-made versions of naturally occurring biological signals to quickly convert ordinary skin cells into cells that appear virtually identical to embryonic stem cells. Moreover, the same strategy can then coax those cells to morph into specific tissues that would be a perfect match for transplantation into patients.
The work, by a team led by Derek J. Rossi of the Children’s Hospital Boston, was praised by other researchers as a breakthrough.
“This paper is a major paper, in my view, in the field of regenerative medicine,” said Douglas A. Melton, who co-directs the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.