iPS cells execute embryonic stem cells function

The research, by showing that cells from connective tissue can be changed into cells similar to the embryonic stem cells from fetuses, has made a major leap forward to eliminate the need for fetal cells in research and clinical applications.

The technique
The two teams of Chinese researchers that conducted the studies used a technique called tetraploid complementation. The injected the iPS cells into blastocyst, a very early embryo.

A scrutiny of the embryo revealed that iPS cells along with the host embryo's cells contributed to the resulting animal. Thereafter, researchers fused the cells of the host blastocyst which meant that the host cells could form only the placental tissues, the other tissues being contributed by the injected iPS cells.

Findings remove nagging doubts
Researchers had produced the induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells, two years back. However, doubts regarding the potency of these cells to produce only some type of body cells or whether there were really indistinguishable from embryonic cells held back the researchers.

The findings of the latest research, published online by the journals Nature and Cell Stem Cell, have removed these doubts. The findings throw open exciting areas that transcend the boundaries of producing stem cells only for medicinal purposes.

The use of such cells could include the making species in danger of extinction as well as reproduction of farm and other animals.

Positive reviews
The reports "show that iPS cells are identical to embryonic stem cells," said biologist Kathrin Plath of UCLA's Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research.

Biologist Robert Blelloch of UC San Francisco's Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research said that results are "comforting, because there has been a lingering concern that iPS cells had failed in this particular assay."

He added, “What's missing, which will really be key, is whether there is anything about the cells that did pass the test that is different from those that didn't." Blelloch was however, not involved in the research.

The ethical dimension
Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology Inc. in Worcester, drew the attention to the ethical issues.

He claimed that although the iPS technique was technically different from reproductive cloning, the ethical issues involved in both techniques were the same.

"We have gone from science fiction to reality. We now have the technology to create iPS cells from skin or hair follicles. Combine that with showing that they can actually create a living organism, and that's pretty scary. All the pieces are here for serious abuse," cautioned Lanza.