Researchers Find Substitute For Embryonic Stem Cell.

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have become the first to reprogram and successfully test the effectiveness of embryo-free stem cells.

Now, after the United States and Japan, Australian researchers have successfully reprogrammed Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (IPS cells) to behave more like embryonic cells. They hope that one day these cells can be used as cures for various medical conditions, without the controversial usage of embryonic stem cells.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells are derived from adult somatic cells by artificially adding certain genesdefine to them. They are believed to be identical to natural Pluripotent cells, like the embryonic stem cells. They are similar in many respects, like expression of certain stem cell genes and proteins, doubling time, embryoid body formation, potency and differentiability.

IPS Cells were first produced in 2006 from mouse cells and in 2007 from human cells. This has been cited as an important advancement in stem cell research, as it may allow researchers to obtain Pluripotent stem cells, which are important in research and potentially have therapeutic uses, without the controversial use of embryos.

Pluripotent cells are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. These include each of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body. This fact highlights the importance of the cultivation of Pluripotent cells.

Cells like Embryonic Stem Cells and IPS cells can be cultured to form different types of tissue. Hence they offer promise in the development of medical treatments for a wide range of conditions. These include damage to the brain, spinal cord, skeletal muscles and the heart. Treatments that have been proposed include physical trauma (e.g. spinal cord injuries), degenerative conditions (e.g. Parkinson's disease) or even genetic diseases (in combination with gene therapy).

However the Ethical usage of stem cells derived from embryos has led to a controversy. It can be summed up in the line that ‘once fertilized, the uninhibited embryo develops into a fully grown adult’. The religious questioning is similar to that in cases of abortion and feticide. It has been argued that "the line at which an embryo becomes a human life remains as arbitrary as ever".

Better alternatives have been suggested and IPS Cells are amongst them. Adult stem cells had already produced therapies. Moreover, there have been many advances in adult stem cell research. This field offers a lot of promise and benefit. Also, being clear of the controversial embryo-related issues, growth and advancement on the medicinal front is visible in the near future.