WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The first pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been generated from somatic cell nuclear transfer, according to a study published today (October 5) in Nature. The findings validate this controversial method, and may one day allow therapeutic stem cells to be created from a patient’s own genetic material.
“The advance here is the proof that somatic cell nuclear transfer can work [in human cells] and can fully reset the donor cell genome to a pluripotent state,” said Harvard Medical School’s George Daley, who was not affiliated with the study.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer typically involves the transfer of genomic information from a somatic cell into an unfertilized egg cell whose nucleus has been removed. The fusion ultimately gives rise to a microscopic embryo, from ...
