Today researchers from Harvard Medical School reported they’ve discovered a “surprisingly quick and apparently safe” way to transform skin cells into stem cells, which have the ability to themselves transform into other cell types. The process involves using RNA to carry new genes into the existing stem cells. In the past, scientists have used viruses to carry the genes, but this had led to serious complications, including development of cancer.

The researchers note this process should not be expected to replace embryonic research, but do note they “believe that our approach has the potential to become a major and perhaps even central enabling technology for cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine.”

Results of their research are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

• Turning paper and clothing into batteries – By coating fabric and paper with ink “laced” with carbon nanotubes, researchers were able to coax these ordinary materials into storing energy that may one day be used to charge gadgets or lead to new, flexible displays.
• Exploring dolphins’ diabetes “off switch” – Dolphins have the ability to “switch off” insulin resistance, and researchers hope to probe the human genome to determine if humans might have the same ability.
• Scientists discuss geoengineering possibilities as solution for climate change – “If we can heat the planet, can we also cool it?”
• Advancements in cryonics – Chief Operating Officer of American Cryonics Society says, “For a little over $28,000, we can give you age suspension.”
• How nanotechnology could help the Middle East – A strong commitment to Arab scientists could mean nanotechnology advances in areas such as water treatment and solar energy.
• Software could understand what humans write – Emerging technologies being developed at Stanford could help computers better comprehend information online, leading to better indexing of information and effectiveness of search engines.

It is thought that the symptoms of DKC are brought on by the body’s inability to properly maintain telomeres, the caps on the end of chromosomes that get shorter as we age. Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston were able to “reprogram” cells using a stem cell therapy that actually lengthened telomeres, providing hope for those diagnosed with DKC but also those of us who hope to escape the ravages of aging:

In the new study, Suneet Agarwal, a physician and researcher at Children’s Hospital, and collaborators took skin cells from three patients with the disease and genetically engineered the cells to express a set of genes that triggers reprogramming, reverting the cells to an embryonic state. They were surprised to find that the reprogrammed cells grew and divided, their telomeres lengthening with subsequent divisions.

“They show that they can make the cells young,” says Lorenz Studer, a physician and scientist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, who was not involved in the research. The defect in the telomerase enzyme “seems to be repressed or overridden during reprogramming, which probably explains why patients do reasonably well in the early stages of life,” he says. “Patients still have same mutation whether in the [skin cell] or iPS cell, but the mutation only manifests itself in the differentiated cell.”

The results of the study were published online yesterday in the journal Nature.

(Via Instapundit)

• io9 asks if vat-grown meat is kosher. I would think yes, but they consult a rabbi who gives a more nuanced answer.
• Boing Boing notes the doctor who created the “MMR vaccine scare” could lose his license. Good riddance to bad researchers.
• Climate change experts explore the possibility of geoengineering to curb global warming. While the proposals are huge in scope, they’re far cheaper than actually cutting emissions.
• Grab the garlic and wooden stakes. Researchers find “young blood reverses signs of aging” – in old mice.
• Amidst a lot of positive research on vitamin D comes a study showing that the vitamin may play a positive role in protecting against Crohn’s disease, a fairly debilitating autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the gut.

The polymer blood vessel uses nanotechnology in a novel way to encourage the healing process after the artificial artery is implanted:

The UK team of Nanotechnologists incorporated microscopic molecules into the newly developed artery designed to aid circulation and encourage stem cells to coat its lining in order to improve its restorative ability further. It is also flexible, strong, resistant to blood clotting and matches heartbeats by pulsing.

Artery walls are usually very strong as they must withstand a lifetime of blood pressure, but if hardened or damaged by disease the vessel can either be blocked, or become an aneurysm which could split.

Human trials are set to begin this year.

Tiny robots that measure only a few millimeters or less may be used for a number of medical procedures, including injecting stem cells or gene therapy directly into hard-to-reach areas, taking photos and tissue samples, cleaning shunts that drain fluid from the brain, and more.

(H/T Moral Machines)

Embryonic cells are controversial because a life (or a potential life, depending on your point of view) is destroyed in obtaining them. They are desirable because they don’t have any antigens on their cell surfaces, so they won’t be rejected by anyone who receives them, and also because they are totipotent, meaning they have the ability to turn into any type of cell in the body. The downside to embryonic cells is that they are very difficult to control and their practical value still lies in the future.

Adult stem cells, on the other hand, do have practical applications even in the United States today. They are being used in several clinical trials with surprisingly beneficial results, and as treatments for patients with otherwise incurable conditions in many other regions of the world. Advantages of adult stem cells are that they are easier to work with and easily obtained from the bone marrow.

And:

Placental stem cells are similar to umbilical cord blood cells, but they are even more “user friendly” as they combine advantages of embryonic stem cells with those of adult cells. They have relatively weak antigens on their surfaces so they can be used in a wide spectrum of potential recipients and they are multipotent, like adult cells, so they are relatively easy to control.

While Dr. Grossman hasn’t noticed any beneficial effects from the transplants in the first two weeks since the procedure, I’ll be quite interested to hear more about his experience.