Researchers have created 20 disease-specific pluripotent cell lines by reprogramming skin and bone marrow cells from patients with genetic disorders, they report in a paper to be published tomorrow in Cell. "These cells will be an incredible resource for those interested in studying the root causes of these diseases," wrote linkurl:Kevin Eggan,;http://golgi.harvard.edu/Faculty/Eggan.html Harvard researcher who was not involved in the study, in an Email to The Scientist. The researchers, led by linkurl:George Daley;http://daley.med.harvard.edu/ at Harvard University, reprogrammed the cells (called iPS cells) using linkurl:four reprogramming factors,;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53873/ OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-Myc, and then evaluated each cell line for pluripotency. Of the 20 disease-specific cell lines created, 10 have been fully characterized as genetic matches to the specific disease. For these cell lines the researchers took cells from patients of both sexes who ranged in age from 1 month to 57 years. The diseases represented in the cell lines...
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