'Reprogramming' of Adult Cells...without embryos
This story represents a pretty significant vindication for those who have asserted that science could advance the cause of pursuing genetic cures to common ailments without resorting to the destruction of human embryos:
Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a plethora of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires that have plagued embryonic stem cell research.
Through a series of painstaking experiments involving mice, the Harvard biologists pinpointed three crucial molecular switches that, when flipped, completely convert a common cell in the pancreas into the more precious insulin-producing ones that diabetics need to survive.
The feat, published online today by the journal Nature, raises the tantalizing prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies.
There is much work left to be done yet...but there is remarkable promise in such a technique. Reason enough for everyone to celebrate.
Groundbreaking Advance Allows for 'Reprogramming' of Adult Cells - washingtonpost.com