WHAT: A team of scientists has advanced stem cell research by finding a way to endow human skin cells with embryonic stem cell-like properties without inserting potentially problematic new genes into their DNA. The team was led by James A. Thomson, V.M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and supported in part by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health.

This is not the first time that scientists have endowed differentiated cells like skin cells with the capacity to develop into any of the roughly 220 types of cells in the body, a process known as induced pluripotency. But it is the first time that they have done so without using viruses, which can insert potentially harmful genes into the cells’ genetic material and trigger cancer.

Thomson’s new method imports the necessary genes on a small circle of DNA known as a plasmid. Over time, the plasmid disappears naturally from the cell population, avoiding the danger posed by using viruses.

Scientists view pluripotent cells as invaluable to studies of normal and disease processes and to understanding the effects of certain drugs. In the future, doctors might be able to use such cells therapeutically to replace those affected by diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s or lost to traumatic injuries.

In addition to NIGMS, NIH’s National Center for Research Resources also supported this study through a resource grant.

ARTICLE: “Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Free of Vector and Transgene Sequences” by Junying Yu, Kejin Hu, Kim Smuga-Otto, Shulan Tian, Ron Stewart, Igor I. Slukvin and James A. Thomson. The paper will appear online in Science Express on Thursday, March 26, 2009.

SPOKESPEOPLE: Available to comment on this work and its importance to the field of stem cell biology are NIGMS Director Jeremy M. Berg, Ph.D., as well Marion Zatz, Ph.D., and Susan Haynes, Ph.D., who oversee NIGMS stem cell grants.

NIGMS is a part of NIH that supports basic research to increase our understanding of life processes and lay the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. For more information on the Institute’s research and training programs, see http://www.nigms.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation’s Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.

Source: NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)