SEOUL, May 19 (UPI) -- A report released Thursday said Korean scientists have generated human embryonic stem cell lines that are an identical genetic match to patients.
The breakthrough moves researchers closer to being able to use the cells to replace tissues damaged by disease or injury.
"If (these cells) can be safely used in transplant, the promise for effective treatment -- perhaps even cure -- of devastating diseases and injuries comes within reach," Gerald Schatten, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who served as a consultant on the study, said in a statement.
The Korean team, led by Woo Suk Hwang, a professor at Seoul National University, is the same group that cloned a human embryonic stem cell for the first time last year.
Using a technique called therapeutic cloning, Hwang's team generated human embryonic stem cell lines from 11 patients. Laboratory tests indicated the stem cells created matched the patients' DNA exactly and were immunologically compatible with the patients' own cells, suggesting they would likely survive transplantation into the body.
