Scientists trick cells into switching identities

[irishspirit]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Suppose you could repair tissue damaged by a heart attack by magically turning other cells into heart muscle, so the organ could pump effectively again.

Scientists aren't quite ready to do that. But they are reporting early success at transforming one kind of specialized cell directly into another kind, a feat of biological alchemy that doctors may one day perform inside a patient's body.

"I think everyone believes this is really the future of so-called stem-cell biology," says John Gearhart of the University of Pennsylvania, one of many researchers pursuing this approach.

The concept is two steps beyond the familiar story of embryonic stem cells, versatile entities that can be coaxed to become cells of all types, like brain and blood. Scientists are learning to guide those transformations, which someday may provide transplant tissue for treating diseases like Parkinson's or diabetes.

It's still experimental. But at its root, it's really just harnessing and speeding up what happens in nature: a versatile but immature cell matures into a more specialized one.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SCI_CELL_ID_SWITCH?SITE=CTNHR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[witchy1]

Hi Irishspirit, thanks for this. I have been following stem cells for a while (as much as they make available) This direct conversion is clearly a better, rather that growing outside the body.
Being the suspicion person that I am, odds on that they are already doing it successfully.

"The new direct-conversion approach avoids embryonic stem cells and the whole notion of returning to an early state. Why not just go directly from one specialized cell to another? It's like flying direct rather than scheduling a stopover.

Even short of researchers' dreams of fixing internal organs from within, Gearhart says direct conversion may offer some other advantages over more established ways of producing specialized cells. Using embryonic stem cells is proving to be inefficient and more difficult than expected, scientists say. For example, the heart muscle cells developed from them aren't fully mature, Gearhart noted."

[conk]

So, they are trancellxuals? Sorry.

[MiguelQ]

that is not new to me... im geneticist some sort.

[PathWalker]

The open scientific research is 100 year behind the closed secret scientific research.
There is knowledge how to regenerate organs, how to cure illness, how to rejuvenate the body.
The secrets of immortality revealed already.

It is all locked by TPTB in order to conserve the power grid. It will change in few years, since the power grid is crumbling.

Remember that our reality is a virtual reality game of duality we play. Every thing is whole, complete and perfect.

[conk]

Yes Pathwalker, true. They have convinced us that we must look to them or some God for our 'salvation'. They teach us that we come from dust (dirt) and that we are powerless without them. That we are weak and sinful, born as sinners. In fact we have the power and are made of light, not dirt. Too few of us know this, sadly.