Here is a new word for you: iPS cells (induced pluriponent stem cells), which work just as well as stem cells taken from killed embryos, as Chinese scientists have proven:
In papers published online Thursday by two scientific journals, separate teams of researchers from Beijing and Shanghai reported that they had for the first time created virtual genetic duplicates of mice using skin cells from adult animals that had been coaxed into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells.
The findings were welcomed by supporters and opponents of human embryonic stem cell research as a long-sought vital step in proving that the cells could be as useful as embryonic cells for studying and curing many illnesses. . . .
“This gives us hope for future therapeutic interventions using patients’ own reprogrammed cells,” Fanyi Zeng of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, who worked with Zhou, said during a telephone briefing for reporters. . . .the work is “proof that iPS cells are functionally equivalent to embryonic stem cells,” [Shaorong] Gao said in a telephone interview.
Other researchers agreed, praising the work as a long-awaited confirmation of the cells’ equivalence.
“This clearly says for the first time that iPS cells pass the most stringent test,” said Konrad Hochedlinger, a stem cell researcher at Harvard University.
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