A group of scientists at the University of Colorado has achieved positive results in an experiment with stem cells extracted from human skin, a technique that has "the potential" for successfully treating presently incurable diseases.
The scientists "reprogrammed" cells in both healthy and sick adults into iPSC stem cells, spurring hopes that serious illnesses can be treated and future clinical trials can be launched.
According to research chief Ganna Bilousova, with the Gates Regenerative Medicine Centr eat the University of Colorado, the testing so far has allowed the team to create stem cells from adult cells, something that had been a major stumbling block to date.
She said that currently, out of every 1,000 adult cells, "just one or two become iPSC cells," something that was discovered by Shinya Yamanaka in 2006 and later won him the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
"The Colorado researchers found a way to dramatically accelerate that process ... (and) improve the safety of this technology for clinical applications," Bilousova said.
The results are published in Nature Communications.
