US researchers on Thursday reported that they found a safer way to create embryonic stem cells putting at rest the never ending debate surrounding this subject.
 
The discovery has the potential to spark the development of many new types of therapies for humans, for diseases like Type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and the list could go on.
 
The researchers were able to make stem cells in the laboratory from adult cells without genetically altering them.
 
“We are very excited about this breakthrough in generating embryonic-like cells from fibroblasts [cells that gives rise to connective tissue] without using any genetic material. Scientists have been dreaming about this for years,” Scripps Research Associate Professor Sheng Ding, lead author of the study, said.
 
The new technique involves soaking stem cells in a genetically engineered protein solution to create what is known as induced pluripotent stem cells, which can then be used the same way that embryonic stem cells are used, to treat various conditions and diseases.
 
The discovery was welcomed by researchers in the field. Larry Goldstein, head of UC San Diego’s stem cell research program, said the new technique is promising although it would take years to use it on humans.
 
“They key to it becoming a standard is that the method will be easy to use and highly reproducible in other laboratories,” he said.
 
The study, sponsored by Fate Therapeutics, was published online April 23 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.