Researchers have finally found ways to generate healthy stem cells from adults to replace damaged or diseased cells in patients through cloning, possibly paving the way for regenerative medicine in the future, based on latest separate studies.
The first study, titled Human Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Using Adult Cells, shows how the researchers successfully created embryos out of the skin cells of two males whose ages are 35 and 75 years old. They then copied tissue from the embryos that exactly matched the two men-donors' DNA.
The findings were a major achievement for the researchers who went through years of unsuccessful attempts of "therapeutic cloning," called technically as somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). With such cloning, one could produce embryonic cells that are genetically a duplicate of the donor's cells, primarily for the purpose of treating health problems such as blindness, heart disease and Alzheimer's, among many others.
"Our study therefore demonstrates the applicability of SCNT for adult human cells and supports further investigation of SCNT as a strategy for regenerative medicine," the study says.
The other study, titled Extracellular O-Linked N-Acetylglucosamine Is Enriched in Stem Cells Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Blood, also reveals successful cloning of stem cells from the human umbilical cord blood as conducted by researchers from Finnish Red Cross.
The researchers, spearheaded by Heli Suila by the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service in Helsinki, Finland, show evidences that glycan O-GLcNAc can be found on the surface of stem cells and also part of a stem cell-specific surface signature. They suggested that glycan has a critical role in a cell-signaling pathway, which controls the development of embryos.
"Stem cells are considered to offer future cure for various human diseases. However, several aspects of stem cell biology are still undiscovered. To produce therapeutic cell populations, more knowledge should be gained on the biochemistry of stem cells from different origins," the second study says.
Critics say the recent discoveries, however significant and in spite of the possibility that patients could soon benefit from stem cell-based treatments, could likewise reopen arguments over ethical issues of human cloning,
The Cell Stem Cell Journal published the first study on Thursday, April 17. Authors were Young Gie Chung, Young Ho Choi, Jin Hee Eum, Sung Han Shim, Seung Wook Hong, Jeoung Eun Lee, Yumie Lee, Vicken Sepilian, Dong Ryul Lee, Ralph E. Dittman, Nathan R. Treff, Robert Lanza and Erin A. Kimbrel.
Meanwhile, the BioResearch Open Access published the second study on April 11. Other authors were Tia Hirvonen, Suvi Natunen, Ilja Ritamo, Heidi Anderson, Saara Laitinen and Jarno Tuimala.
