2008 Woodie Awards
Stem cell breakthrough calms controversy
Alex Boles
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: TruLife
With a little pulling, tugging and squeezing, scientists made the genes fit.
Researchers in two labs, located in California and Japan, have discovered a way to turn back time on an adult cell to make it act like an embryonic stem cell. Embryonic stem cells are versatile, able to theoretically turn into any type of human cell, making them useful to scientists for medical research.
The discovery could allow scientists to discontinue the use of embryos for stem cell research, which could potentially halt the stem cell debate, said Tim Walston, assistant professor of biology.
"Essentially, there are two labs that found a way to take cells from foreskins from circumcisions and another fetal or infantile cell source and treated those cells with viruses that carried four different genes," said Tim Walston. "Once those cells were infected with viruses that carried those four different genes and expressed those four genes, it was able to reset the differentiation of those cells so those cells essentially became stem cells."
Both the California and Japan labs used a set of four genes, two of which were different from each other's set of four. He said both labs have been able to replicate results using adult cells instead of infantile cells. Both labs now are trying to find a way to not use viruses in their research, he said.
Walston said the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells deals with the way the cells are obtained from the embryo and the end result.
"There's kind of two sides to the controversy," Walston said. "The easy one that maybe people don't hear a lot about, but is out there [is that] ... the embryonic stem cell stuff uses a lot of eggs and so ... a number of women's rights supporters are against stem cell research - embryonic stem cell research - because of the potential that it can lead to women's eggs becoming a commodity."
Walston said an egg needs to begin the developmental stages to be useful and that there are two ways to fertilize an egg - through fertilization or cloning. Once the egg starts developing, it goes through a series of divisions that form the circular egg, and inside that mass is the inner cell mass that has the potential to turn into an embryo, he said.
Researchers in two labs, located in California and Japan, have discovered a way to turn back time on an adult cell to make it act like an embryonic stem cell. Embryonic stem cells are versatile, able to theoretically turn into any type of human cell, making them useful to scientists for medical research.
The discovery could allow scientists to discontinue the use of embryos for stem cell research, which could potentially halt the stem cell debate, said Tim Walston, assistant professor of biology.
"Essentially, there are two labs that found a way to take cells from foreskins from circumcisions and another fetal or infantile cell source and treated those cells with viruses that carried four different genes," said Tim Walston. "Once those cells were infected with viruses that carried those four different genes and expressed those four genes, it was able to reset the differentiation of those cells so those cells essentially became stem cells."
Both the California and Japan labs used a set of four genes, two of which were different from each other's set of four. He said both labs have been able to replicate results using adult cells instead of infantile cells. Both labs now are trying to find a way to not use viruses in their research, he said.
Walston said the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells deals with the way the cells are obtained from the embryo and the end result.
"There's kind of two sides to the controversy," Walston said. "The easy one that maybe people don't hear a lot about, but is out there [is that] ... the embryonic stem cell stuff uses a lot of eggs and so ... a number of women's rights supporters are against stem cell research - embryonic stem cell research - because of the potential that it can lead to women's eggs becoming a commodity."
Walston said an egg needs to begin the developmental stages to be useful and that there are two ways to fertilize an egg - through fertilization or cloning. Once the egg starts developing, it goes through a series of divisions that form the circular egg, and inside that mass is the inner cell mass that has the potential to turn into an embryo, he said.
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Laura
posted 10/08/08 @ 6:16 PM CST
i loved this story so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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