Editor's Summary
22 November 2007
Embryonic stem cells
Techniques for reprogramming adult cells are much sought after for creating cells to genetically match those of patients. Such embryonic stem cells might be used therapeutically without immune rejection. One reprogramming method is somatic cell nuclear transfer, where an adult cell nucleus is inserted into an oocyte that has its own nucleus removed. An early (blastocyst) stage embryo is induced to form, from which embryonic stem cells are teased out and cultured. Previously, this was possible only in mice. Now Byrne et al. have succeeded with the technique using primate adult fibroblasts as the start point. They generated two embryonic stem cell lines from 304 oocytes taken from 14 rhesus monkeys. This success suggests that this approach might be suitable for generating patient-derived embryonic stem cells. A validation paper accompanies this package on the Nature web site. The colorized cover image shows an egg just prior to enucleation. The egg is held by a holding pipette and to the right, a sharp enucleation pipette points towards the nucleus.
Brief Communication Arising: Genotyping of Rhesus SCNT pluripotent stem cell lines
David S. Cram, Bi Song & Alan O. Trounson
doi:10.1038/nature06456
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (384K)
News and Views: Stem cells: Primates join the club
Researchers have achieved the testing goal of generating embryonic stem cells from the cells of an adult primate. The procedure used could provide insights into a variety of diseases, if it can be applied in humans.
Ian Wilmut & Jane Taylor
doi:10.1038/450485a
News: Race to mimic human embryonic stem cells
'Personalized' tissues come a step closer.
David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/450485a
Article: Producing primate embryonic stem cells by somatic cell nuclear transfer
J. A. Byrne, D. A. Pedersen, L. L. Clepper, M. Nelson, W. G. Sanger, S. Gokhale, D. P. Wolf & S. M. Mitalipov
doi:10.1038/nature06357
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (876K) | Supplementary information