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As new revelations further discredit a highly publicized Japanese study on the use of acid to create so-called STAP stem cells, scientists in the U.S. have quietly announced a research breakthrough that involves a more traditional means of producing the amazingly versatile cells.
In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers said they had successfully generated embryonic stem cells using fertilized mouse embryos -- a feat that many scientists had thought was impossible.
If the technique is found to work with human cells, it could open up new resources for stem cell production and hasten their use in a broad range of medical applications, including the repair of damaged organs and spinal cords.
Senior study author Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a cell biologist at Oregon Health and Science University, says his lab now wants to reproduce their success, "first in a monkey and later with human embryos."
If successful, the development would allow the use of "excess" human eggs that are retrieved and fertilized during in vitro fertilization treatments, but never used.
"This is certainly significant," said James Byrne...
In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers said they had successfully generated embryonic stem cells using fertilized mouse embryos -- a feat that many scientists had thought was impossible.
If the technique is found to work with human cells, it could open up new resources for stem cell production and hasten their use in a broad range of medical applications, including the repair of damaged organs and spinal cords.
Senior study author Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a cell biologist at Oregon Health and Science University, says his lab now wants to reproduce their success, "first in a monkey and later with human embryos."
If successful, the development would allow the use of "excess" human eggs that are retrieved and fertilized during in vitro fertilization treatments, but never used.
"This is certainly significant," said James Byrne...