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Article: Scientists turn skin cells into insulin producing ones
- Article from:
- The Hindustan Times
- Article date:
- September 18, 2008
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Report from Indo-Asian News Service brought to you by HT Syndication.
Washington, Sept. 18 -- Scientists have turned skin cells into cells producing insulin - the hormone used in treating diabetes, that may help find a cure for the millions affected by the condition.
The approach involves reprogramming skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, or cells that can give rise to any other foetal or adult cell type, and then inducing them to transform into specialised cells that perform a particular function - in this case, secreting insulin.
Several recent studies have shown that cells can be returned to pluripotent state using "defined factors" (specific proteins that control which genes are ...