While the promise of a stem-cell treatment to treat disease remains far off, scientists continue to take giant steps toward bringing that potential from the lab to the clinic. Working with the groundbreaking type of stem cell known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells which can be generated from a skin cell, completely bypassing the need for embryos researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have overcome a critical hurdle in making the technology safe for human patients. Until now, to create iPS cells from skin cells, researchers needed to expose the skin cells to both viruses and cancer-causing genes to reprogram them to an embryo-like state. Now the Boston scientists report success in using another form of the added genes, known as RNA, that eliminates the danger posed by the insertion of the viruses and cancer-promoting genes. And as an unexpected bonus, the technique is about 100 times more efficient in making iPS cells than the older method. The new findings mark a significant advance toward someday using stem cells as a source of new and healthy cells to replace those that have been destroyed by disease.
The Top 10 Everything of 2010
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Biz Deals
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Campaign Ads
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Facebook Trends
- Top 10 Fashion Statements
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Stories
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 Pictures
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Reality-TV Moments
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Talented Web Videos
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 Travel Moments
- Top 10 TV Commercials
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Twitter Moments
- Top 10 World News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 U.S. News Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
In 50 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months