Multiple sources are reporting a story from Science Magazine's August 26th issue which will report on pluripotent stem cells derived by Eggan at Harvard from the fusion of skin cells and embryos. These results were reported in July, along with what I consider the vital piece of information, again in Science:
The perfect answer remains elusive, but many scientists believe that sometime in the coming decade, they will know enough about cellular "reprogramming" to bypass some of the steps required today. "In 10 to 15 years, we will induce transformation directly and will no longer need embryos or oocytes at all," predicts Kevin Eggan of Harvard University.
It may come even sooner, given mounting congressional support and recent scientific advances. At the June meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, Eggan presented his team's latest work using human ES cells to reprogram the gene expression of human fibroblast cells--moving toward the goal of creating genetically matched pluripotent cell lines without using oocytes or creating a new embryo. The team used polyethylene glycol to fuse the two kinds of cells, forming so-called tetraploid cells with twice the normal number of chromosomes. When grown into cell lines, the fused cells behaved like ES cells, Eggan reported, expressing characteristic genes, differentiating into embryoid bodies in culture, and forming so-called teratomas in immune-compromised mice--even forming patches of hair on the normally bald animals.
(Notably, the embryos used were not part of the federally funded group of cells. They were created for the purpose of being used in research by Melton, et al, at Harvard. - the researchers didn't need federal funds, after all. Now **that** goes against everything the embyronic stem cell advocates have been telling us all along!!)
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