Two Separate Studies Suggest Startling Possibilities
Taking two different approaches but coming up with similar results, researchers in Wisconsin and Japan have used human skin to derive cells with properties remarkably similar to those of embryonic stem cells, the gold standard of stem cell-based regenerative medicine.
The Wisconsin research team genetically reprogrammed human skin cells to create cells indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells.
In Japan, scientists used a chemical cocktail comprising only four ingredients to transform adult human skin cells into cells that resemble, but are not identical to, embryonic stem cells.
