Three scientific teams published separate studies on Wednesday showing that embryonic stem cells can be made by reprogramming some of the genes in adult skin cells, without having to create an embryo â?? at least in mice.
â??Thereâ??s still a ways to go but at first blush, the results are very encouraging and itâ??s certainly a boost for the stem cell research business,â? said Terry Devitt, a director at the University of Wisconsinâ??s stem cell research programme. â??But we still have a bottleneck in the federal government. Weâ??re hamstrung because the research is inadequately funded.â?