According to Reuters, another team of researchers has successfully turned skin cells into embryonic like cells. This time it’s Dr. George Daley of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston and his colleagues:

WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) – A third team of researchers has found a way to convert an ordinary skin cell into valued embryonic-like stem cells, with the potential to grow batches of cells that can be directed to form any kind of tissue.

Their study, published on Sunday in the journal Nature, shows the approach is not a rare fluke but in fact something that might make its way into everyday use.

Scientists hope they are starting an age of regenerative medicine, in which people can get tailor-made treatments for injuries, diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes, and in which scientists can study disease far better than before.

Of course the story wouldn’t be complete without the researcher’s insistence that embryonic stem cell research must still go forward, but it’s good news, nonetheless.

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