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Article: Human skin cells mimic diversity of stem cells
- Article from:
- Charleston Gazette
- Article date:
- November 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 Charleston Gazette. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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NEW YORK - Scientists have made ordinary human skin cells take on
the chameleon powers of embryonic stem cells, a startling
breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs of
embryo cloning without the controversy.
Laboratory teams on two continents report success in a pair of
landmark papers released Tuesday. It's a neck-and-neck finish to a
race that made headlines five months ago, when scientists announced
that the feat had been accomplished in mice.
The "direct reprogramming" technique avoids the swarm of ethical,
political and practical obstacles that have stymied attempts to
produce human stem cells by cloning embryos.
Scientists familiar with the work said scientific ...