Cell reprogramming: much promise, many hurdles

Research in reprogrammed cells, which on Monday earned the 2012 Nobel Prize, has been hailed as a new dawn for regenerative medicine but remains troubled by several clouds.

Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka were honoured with the world’s paramount award in medicine for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

They discovered that a mature, adult cell can be turned back to an infant, versatile state called a stem cell.

First theorised in the late 19th century, stem cells are touted as a source of replacement tissue, fixing almost anything from malfunctioning hearts and lungs, damaged spines, Parkinson’s disease or even baldness.

The first human trials were launched only in 2010, and progress has been dogged by the contested use of stem cells taken from early-stage embryos, where the most adaptable, or pluripotent, cells are found.

Created by Yamanaka in 2006, iPSCs ease the moral row as they derive from adult cells and not embryos, said University of Oxford ethics professor Julian Savulescu. Ordinary skin cells can be used as the starting material.

"Many people objected to the creation of embryos for research, describing it as cannabalizing human beings," he said.

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