STAP (stimulus - triggered acquisition of pluripotency) cells were thought to be engineered
stem cells
created when
hematopoietic stem cells from the spleens of newborn mice were exposed to an acid environment, triggering their conversion from multipotent somatic cells to pluripotent - like
stem cells.
Researchers experimentally mimic the «Berlin patient» by
creating an HIV - resistant selectable
stem cell population which can reconstitute the mouse
hematopoietic system and resist HIV infection