SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco announced in January that they have turned skin cells from mice into stem cells by activating a specific gene in the cells. The new approach utilizes the genome editing tool CRISPR, which allows scientists to edit genomes by altering DNA sequences and modifying gene function.
Researchers are interested in stem cells because they can be turned into virtually any cell type in the body. As a result, they are considered to have potential therapeutic use for currently incurable conditions, such as heart failure, Parkinson’s disease and blindness, according to a press release from Gladstone. However, ethical concerns about their use abound because a primary source of human stem cells is fertilized embryos.
Senior investigator Sheng Ding said the science behind creating the stem cells “is fundamentally different how they’ve been created before” and could lead to a simpler method of creating stem cells or “could be used to directly reprogram skin cells into other cell types, such as heart cells or brain cells.” (TAB)
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