“In a step that has implications for stem cell research, human biology and the treatment of disease, researchers in Japan and at Harvard University have managed to turn adult cells back into flexible stem cells without changing their DNA.
“Biology textbooks say that once a cell matures to serve a specific role, like, say a red blood cell, it can never go back into a less mature state. Vacanti and his colleagues say their new research upends that dogma.
"This study demonstrates that any mature cell when placed in the right environment can go back, become a stem cell, which then has the potential to become any cell needed by that tissue," said Vacanti, also of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.”
"From a practical point of view, if all it takes is a a change in pH and a change in cell culture conditions, then this will make the process of making stem cells a lot simpler and lot easier to scale."
Yes, there is more research that needs to be done, but if they can replicate the process in humans, this could be another major step forward in the healing process.
To read the entire article, follow this link: USA Today
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