«You hear all this dialogue in the media and scientific community about how iPS cells are just the
same as embryonic stem cells, how they can solve the whole controversy by removing the need for embryos,» says stem cell scientist Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass. «There's a lot of excitement about iPS cells, but no one wants to hear about the problems.»
Team finds that both copies of the Oct4 gene come together
just as embryonic stem cells begin to develop into tissue - specific cell types...
But the methods used to reprogram cells can damage their DNA, and the iPS cells may not behave in exactly the same
way as embryonic stem cells.
The newly discovered human cells, named «cord - blood - derived embryonic - like stem cells» or CBEs, are not quite as
primitive as embryonic stem cells, which can give rise to any tissue type of the body.
In 2002, Daley pointed out, a group headed by Catherine Verfaillie at the University of Minnesota had reported the existence of an adult stem cell that appeared to possess the same
qualities as embryonic stem cells, and conservative opponents of embryonic stem cell research quickly embraced that development as a solution to the ethical quandary.
Once it starts, this process is usually irreversible —
much as embryonic stem cells have no alternative but to become part of a kidney or cartilage once the biological «switch» is thrown.
Undifferentiated Ethics: Why Stem Cells from Adult Skin Are as Morally Fraught as Embryonic Stem Cells
As an alternative to harvesting them from embryos, scientists can also obtain pluripotent stem cells by treating mature somatic cells with a cocktail of transcription factors to regress them so that they are nearly as
flexible as embryonic stem cells.
For these cells to be as
useful as embryonic stem cells, «we have to find a way to avoid retroviruses before application in cell therapy», Yamanaka says, as they could result in tumours.
They successfully converted mature mouse skin cells into what they called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that had the same wide - open
potential as embryonic stem cells — which the researchers showed by turning their iPS cells into nerve and connective tissue cells.
For a discussion of the different kinds of stem cells,
such as embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, or induced pluripotent stem cells, see Stem Cell Basics.
That is even when the claims are published in reputed peer - reviewed journals.The Bush administration lays much emphasis on the results of such results to buttress its claim that adult stem cells are indeed as
versatile as embryonic stem cells.
Scientists were even more stunned in July 2002 when researchers led by stem cell biologist Catherine Verfaillie at the University of Minnesota reported that bone marrow — derived cells they had injected into young embryos contributed to all three embryonic layers,
just as embryonic stem cells would do.
These biologically... appear to be the
same as embryonic stem cells, and we still have to figure out how to differentiate them into useful things.»
Stem cells found in the blood and bone marrow are immature cells that develop into red and white blood cells, platelets and additional stem cells (they are not the same
as embryonic stem cells).