Scientists find new recipe for stem cells

MUNSTER, Germany, June 29 (UPI) -- German developmental biologists say they have found a simpler recipe for creating safer stem cells to be used on people with genetic diseases.

The new method of creating induced pluripotent stem cells, called iPS cells, makes the technology safer for clinical treatments by making it less likely the cells could cause complications such as cancer, the researchers write in this week's issue of Nature.

Led by Hans Scholer, the researchers report that a particular adult cell type in mice, called neural stem cells, can be converted to iPS cells by using just two developmental factors instead of the previous four. It also can be done without the need for c-Myc viral gene insertion, which carries the risk of causing tumors to form.