Researchers Breed Mice from Stem Cells
Last week, Chinese scientists announced they had created genetic duplicates of mice using the skin cells from adult animals that had been coaxed into the equivalent of embryonic stem cells.
The researchers used viruses to flip genetic switches in the DNA of skin cells from adult mice to turn them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. iPS cells appear to be identical to embryonic stem cells which might be useful for studying and curing many illnesses.
The Washington Post article that summarized the findings quoted Robert Lanza, Chief Scientific Officer at Worcester’s Advanced Cell Technology as saying, “This isn’t rocket science — with a little practice, any IVF clinic in the world could probably figure out how to” steals someones’ DNA to make a baby.
I’m not sure we’re that far along yet, but we’re getting closer.
