Source: Reuters.

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Two separate teams of researchers announced on Tuesday they had transformed ordinary skin cells into batches of cells that look and act like embryonic stem cells — but without using cloning technology and without making embryos.

Their breakthroughs could make possible the long-sought goal of tailor-made medicine, but without the political, scientific and ethical roadblock of using human embryos.

Both teams call the new cells induced pluripotent stem cells and say they look and act like embryonic stem cells — the master cells that give rise to every cell and tissue in the body.

“We can now envisage a time when a simple approach can be used to produce stem cells that are able to form any tissue from a small sample taken from any of us,” Ian Wilmut of the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement.

“This will have enormous implications for research and perhaps one day for therapy,” added Wilmut, who helped clone the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, in 1997.

James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin in Madison and colleagues reported their finding in the journal Science while Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues reported theirs in the journal Cell.

Both teams used just four genes to transform ordinary skin cells called fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells — iPS cells for short.

“We are now in a position to be able to generate patient- and disease- specific stem cells, without using human eggs or embryos,” Yamanaka said in a statement.

FOUR GENES

“These cells should be useful in understanding disease mechanisms, searching for effective and safe drugs, and treating patients with cell therapy,” he added.

“By introducing four genes (OCT4, NANOG, SOX2 and LIN28), into human fibroblasts, stem cells sharing essentially all features of human ES cells were obtained,” Thomson’s team wrote in their report in Science.

“Similar to human embryonic cells, human iPS cells should prove useful for studying the development and function of human tissues, for discovering and testing new drugs, and for transplantation medicine,” added Thomson, whose team first discovered human embryonic stem cells in 1998.

Yamanaka’s team used a slightly different cocktail of genes — OCT3/4, SOX2, C-MYC, and KLF4 — to get their iPS cells.

Both teams said the new cells are not ready to use in people yet because they used a type of virus called a retrovirus to carry the new genes into the skin cells. It is not clear whether this virus might cause genetic mutations that could cause cancer or other side effects.

“More research is necessary to determine how closely related these cells are to embryonic stem cells, but these methods should be useful for developing disease models and for drug development,” Thomson’s team wrote.

Yamanaka said the new technology might still raise some red flags for some people.

“Our technology, however, create a new ethical concerns. It might be possible to generate sperm and eggs from skin cells, via iPS cells. This might help people with infertility problem, but it will be essential to have a proper regulation regarding the generation and usage of human iPS cells to avoid misusages of this technology,” he said.

(Editing by Doina Chiacu)

It’s time for another post about me.

Seriously, though, there are many regular readers of this blog and I think that it is entirely appropriate for them to get to know me a bit, especially since I have yet to post my testimony. I am taking an Evangelism course next and I think that writing a testimony is an assignment so I’ll have one to post soon.

My Myers Briggs personality type is Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging (INTJ). If you have never taken a Myers Briggs test, many can be found online.

So, what does this personality type say about me?

One website says this:

To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of “definiteness”, of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age. When it comes to their own areas of expertise — and INTJs can have several — they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don’t know.

Another one says this:

The INTJ’s interest in dealing with the world is to make decisions, express judgments, and put everything that they encounter into an understandable and rational system. Consequently, they are quick to express judgments. Often they have very evolved intuitions, and are convinced that they are right about things.

The same site says I’d be a good professor, manager, or computer specialist. I guess that’s why I administer and teach in a computer degree program.

Yet another site says this:

INTJs are among the most independent of the sixteen types. Their theme song may be “My Way.” As with other NTs, this independence often gives them an aura of arrogance that makes in-depth relationships develop slowly. At both work and play they can often seem aloof and sometimes argumentative. For INTJs, such behavior is simply the result of their attempt to stimulate the world around them. They can be stunned, even appearing hurt, when others accuse them of being distant and seemingly uncaring, but it is, ironically, the INTJ’s caring that has been the source of the provocation. They may even seem surprised at others taking offense when their motivation was fostering improvement. Again, as with other NTs, INTJs learn by arguing, part of their continuing quest to understand the universe. The problem is that an INTJ’s “friendly discussion” may be seen by others as hostile, even obnoxious behavior.

Hmmm. I guess this explains a lot of things…

I apologize for not posting a lot lately. I have been very busy taking care of my family and continuing my education. One of the three graduate classes that I am enrolled in right now required a video presentation. I thought it would be appropriate to share a small clip, especially since many of you do not seem to know who I am.

I know this because I can research who links to my posts and many of you have great things to say, but a common theme is that you don’t know my name. It’s in the footer of every page and in the RSS feed, but since it’s not prominently displayed, I’m normally referred to at “Prudent Musings.” Here is my attempt to be a bit more human. In this clip my daughter’s friend distracts me a bit in the middle of a presentation, then my daughter interrupts and asks for a cookie. I hope that you enjoy. I did.

I have added a few video effects since I never asked my audience if they’d like to be up on the Web.

Click To Play

This post is a bit off-topic from my normal posts, but since I’m currently looking at some Ph.D. programs that require the GRE, I’m interested in knowing if anyone has any recommendations for study materials.

Thanks!

Something happened today that made me really question my patience. I went to the store across the street from where I work to pick up a sandwich for lunch and made my way to the 10 items or less line. In front of me in line stood someone with a cart full of items. She surely had over ten, perhaps even over twenty. As usually occurs in situations like this, the clerk said nothing.

Because I had nothing else to do while I was waiting in line behind her except to notice how heavy the items in my arms were becoming while regretting not using a cart myself, I began to count the items as they were handed to the clerk. At nine items I looked down at the cart and knew that this woman had violated “10 items or less” etiquette. But then I was surprised. She stopped and said that she had more than one order and wanted multiple transactions. As I stood behind her and counted the number of items in each transaction the ten item limit was never reached. I felt that she had cheated the system and gotten away with something.

Was it right for me to feel this way?