Skin cells reprogrammed to stem cells

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported they have reprogrammed skin cells to behave as stem cells by introducing four genes.

The U.S. team's announcement came at the same time as a group of Japanese scientists also reported the same breakthrough in cell research but reached its findings separately, the Milwaukee Journal reported Tuesday. The teams used different genetic cocktails.

The UW team, led by embryonic stem cell pioneer James Thomson, discovered the reprogrammed human cells took on characteristics of human embryonic stem cells, without the ethical or political controversy that surrounds destroying embryos or cloning for stem cell research.

"These induced cells do all the things embryonic stem cells do," Thomson said. "It is something that can proliferate forever and form every cell in the body. The big question will be, are they normal cells or funny mutations?"

Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer with Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., who is not associated with the research, said, "If perfected, there will no longer be any need for human eggs, or any of the controversy associated with destroying embryos."

The UW work was published Tuesday in the online edition of Science.