A two year study results published in the 25th September 2008 edition of the Science journal by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston says that stem cells as effective as those from human embryos can be created from adult cells, simply by developing a safer way of obtaining stem cells from common skin cells, without using harmful cancer causing viruses.

According to Konrad Hochedlinger, geneticist at Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Mass., and lead author of the paper, earlier, scientists used retro-viruses to get genes into the cells by inserting viral DNA into cell chromosomes.  And, as retroviruses integrate into the genome, they alter its genetic make-up and pose a risk of developing cancer.  However, this time, Adenovirus was used to carry four transformative genes, called Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc into the cells.  Less harmful than retroviruses, Adenovirus does not integrate permanently, which means no genetic alteration of human cells takes place.

This new technique of using skin cells and reprogramming them into embryonic-like stem cells, not only offers a safer way for cell therapy tests for treating Parkinson’s and other degenerative diseases, it also poses fewer moral restrictions than stem cells obtained from human embryos.

Previously, researchers using a technique pioneered by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan, reprogrammed adult mouse skin cells by introducing four specific genes into resembling embryonic stem cells, and once could culture these newly induced pluripotents stem cells like ordinary stem cells, into any desired tissue, from heart muscle cells, and blood cells to brain cells.

With the ability to develop into many different cell types in the body, stem cells are useful in repairing the body, as they can divide and each new cell, either remains a stem cell, or it becomes a different cell type with specialized functions.

Centre stage at the 2008 World Stem Cell Summit that took place at Alliant Energy Centre, Madiuson, the cell reprogramming technique without cancer-causing retroviruses, could lead to newer and better therapies, among them the direct conversion of mouse pancreatic cells into insulin-producing beta cells, useful for treating patients with Type I diabetes.

Image Source: research.ucsc.edu