Chinese scientists find new method of reprogramming cells
Chinese scientists have created induced pluripotent (iPS) cells by adding chemicals but not extra genes that might cause mutations or cancer.
Chinese scientists have created induced pluripotent (iPS) cells by adding chemicals but not extra genes that might cause mutations or cancer. Hongkui Deng, a biologist at Peking University in Beijing, and his team screened thousands of small molecules to find chemical substitutes for the Oct4 gene which has been a key element in reprogramming cells.
They call the chemically induced pluripotent cells CiPSCs.
Using seven chemicals they were able to get 0.2% of cells to convert to iPS cells, a proportion similar to the rates in other techniques. The researchers have proved that the cells are pluripotent by introducing them into mice, where they developed into all the major cell types, including liver, heart, brain, skin and muscle. While the technique is promising, its safety and efficacy still must be proven in humans.
MIchael Cook
Creative commons
CiPSC
stem cells
- Queensland legalises ‘assisted dying’ - September 19, 2021
- Is abortion a global public health emergency? - April 11, 2021
- Dutch doctors cleared to euthanise dementia patients who have advance directives - November 22, 2020
More Stories
War and peace: Israeli physicians treating Palestinian patients
In the midst of the bitter war between Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza, there is a ray...
Court rules ‘voluntary assisted dying’ is suicide
Such is the stigma surrounding suicide that advocates of “voluntary assisted dying” insist vehemently that it is by no means...
Is poverty a cause of the rise of trans identity in the UK?
UK rates of transgender identity have risen at least 5-fold since 2000, with the highest rise observed among 16 to...
Donor anonymity becomes a battleground in the US
Donor-conceived Americans who want the federal government to abolish donor anonymity are getting pushback from the LGBTQI+ lobby. On the...
Should there be a ‘dead donor rule’ for sperm donation?
Sperm donation creates a web of exceedingly complex relationships. The HeyReprotech Newsletter (a great Substack resource for news about assisted...
The oldest mother in Africa is single and broke
A 70-year-old Ugandan woman has given birth to twins after receiving IVF treatment. Safina Namukwaya delivered a boy and a...