Results Two research groups, American and Japanese, published papers on120 October, respectively, announcing that ordinary human skin cells have been
Results Two research groups, American and Japanese, published papers on120 October, respectively, announcing that ordinary human skin cells have been successfully transformed into a new type of "universal cells" with embryonic stem cell function. This major breakthrough, which is called "milestone" in biological science by academic circles, is expected to help scientists bypass the ethical and moral disputes of cloning technology and open the door for medical application. Two independent research teams from the james thomson Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin and the Institute of Regenerative Medicine of Kyoto University published the same research report in the American journal Science and Cell respectively on the 20th, and they will get patents respectively. Both research groups extracted a skin cell named "fibroblast" from human body, and then implanted four new genes into it, thus making a cell named IPS, which has the function similar to embryonic stem cells and can eventually be cultured into human tissues or organs.
Keiko Kobao, the discoverer of the universal cell (STAP cell), is different in that the "fibroblasts" in james thomson's laboratory come from the penis foreskin of newborns, while the research team led by shinya yamanaka, a professor at Kyoto University, extracts cells from the face of a 36-year-old woman.
However, research groups in the United States and Japan all said that the currently artificially cultured "universal cells" could not be used in humans, because they used retroviruses in the process of implanting "recombinant genes", which may lead to gene variation and cause side effects such as tumors.
A summary of the research on "universal cells" crossing ethical barriers
Stem cells are undifferentiated primitive cells, which are usually divided into three categories, namely totipotent stem cells, pluripotent stem cells and pluripotent stem cells. Among them, totipotent stem cells are mainly embryonic stem cells. If it is combined with cloning technology, embryonic stem cells can be developed into cells, tissues or organs with the same genetic characteristics as patients, thus completely solving the problem of rejection that often occurs in previous organ transplantation treatment methods, and blood cells, brain cells, bones, internal organs, etc. will be replaced, and chronic diseases such as leukemia, Parkinson's disease and heart disease are expected to be effectively treated and cured.
Universal cells have been criticized. If we want to obtain human embryonic stem cells, we must destroy human embryos. This time, the technology of "direct transformation" of human skin cells has crossed the ethical barrier.
"gene rearrangement technology"
On the 20th, research groups in the United States and Japan released their own new achievements in stem cell research. The research of james thomson Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be published in Science magazine on 22nd, and the report of the research team led by Professor shinya yamanaka of Kyoto University will be published in Cell magazine on 30th.
Methods of making universal cells The research methods and principles of the two groups are similar. Both research groups used the same technology-"gene rearrangement technology", that is, a group of four genes were implanted into skin cells, and through gene rearrangement, skin cells had the function of embryonic stem cells. This modified cell is called "iPS cell".
The combination of implanted genes chosen by the two research groups is slightly different. In addition, they also chose different types of human skin cells as the "basic version". Shinya yamanaka's team extracted skin cells called "fibroblasts" from the face of a 36-year-old woman. The skin cells in james thomson's laboratory are "fibroblasts", which come from the penis foreskin of newborns.
Genetic cocktails are different.
Then, with the help of retrovirus, the researchers injected four genes into skin cells. These specific genes can "recombine" the genes of skin cells to obtain specific types of human stem cells.
The two groups used different gene cocktails. American researchers chose the combination of OCT4, NANOG, SOX2 and LIN28, while Japanese researchers chose OCT3/4, SOX2, C-MYC and KLF4.
The experimental results are the same-they successfully transformed ordinary human skin cells into stem cells. Theoretically, the functions of these stem cells are similar to those of embryonic stem cells obtained by embryo cloning technology, and they can eventually be cultured into human tissues or organs. Because these stem cells can be controlled by gene combination, they are called "universal cells" and "chameleon cells".
Take the "right path" and "hit the line" at the same time
Malcolm Park Jung Su, an associated press science reporter, jokingly called it "simultaneous line collision". In June this year, three research groups in the United States and Japan announced that they had successfully transformed mouse skin cells into cells similar to embryonic stem cells. Since then, the two sides have started a "contest" on the transformation of human skin cells.
Scientists believe that transforming human skin cells into stem cells with almost the same function as embryonic stem cells means that the related technology is further mature.
In contrast, embryonic stem cell research is not only extremely difficult, but also faces too many ethical and legal disputes. US President George W. Bush has twice vetoed a bill to relax federal funds to support embryonic stem cell research, arguing that American taxpayers' money cannot be used to "deliberately destroy human embryos." Therefore, on the 20th, the White House welcomed this new achievement by American and Japanese scientists, believing that it is the "right way" for stem cell research.
Known as the Wright brothers' first plane.
The academic circles gave high praise to this research. Because this technology called "direct transformation" can not only avoid the ethical controversy caused by human embryo cloning technology, but also open the door for further medical application because of its high efficiency and convenience.
Ian wilmer, the midwife of Dolly, the world's first cloned sheep, said in a statement: "We can now imagine an era in which stem cells can be made in a simple way and any tissue and organ can be cultivated from anyone's tissue samples."
Wilmer has announced that he has decided to abandon the embryo cell cloning technology used to "create" Dolly sheep and adopt the somatic cell "direct transformation" technology proposed by Japanese scientists.
Referring to the prospect of technology promotion, Thomson said: "People don't know how easy it is. Thousands of laboratories in the United States can basically do it tomorrow. "
Robert Lanza, chief scientist of the American Institute of Advanced Cell Technology, who is committed to the research of human embryo cloning technology, also paid tribute: "This research is a great scientific milestone. Biologically speaking, it is equivalent to the first plane made by the Wright brothers. "
Potential Risks This technology can't completely replace embryonic cell cloning technology, because its current experimental mode has potential side effects. Both research groups said that further research is needed to compare the differences between these cloned "embryonic stem cells" and real embryonic stem cells in clinical application. They believe that it is still too early to stop the research on human embryonic stem cells, and "iPS cells" still have a long way to go before practical application.
Research teams in the United States and Japan use retroviruses to "transform" skin cells, which may mutate genes and lead to side effects such as tumors. Therefore, until this potential risk is assessed and overcome, "universal cells" cannot be used for organ transplantation and other clinical applications.
Another risk is related to ethics, although it is not as controversial as human embryonic cell cloning technology. Shinya Shinya yamanaka said that by applying this technology, it may be possible to produce sperm and eggs from skin cells, which can help patients with fertility problems. "However, in order to avoid abuse, it is necessary to make appropriate regulations on the manufacture and utilization of human universal cells."
The international stem cell problem no longer "divides" Americans.
The Bush administration once resolutely opposed embryonic stem cell research through therapeutic cloning, which was also attacked by the Democratic Party as "hindering scientific progress". CNN reported that "this achievement is the beginning to calm the debate", and the issue of stem cells may no longer be a major issue that "divides China people in two".
The study found that the female doctor from China led the research of the American team.
It is reported that there are many China scientists in Thomson Laboratory in the United States, and the reporter connected with Dr. Yu, a female scientist from China who led the research on "universal cells".
Yu Yu said that this breakthrough is actually a new beginning and opens up a new situation for human beings to use cells for research in a wider range.
Yu was born in Zhuji, Zhejiang, and graduated from Peking University. 65438-0997 went to study at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2003, he joined Thomson's laboratory and began to "transform" skin cells into embryonic stem cells.
According to reports, Thomson Laboratory was established in 1998, funded by the US National Health Department and local foundations, and currently has about 17 researchers. The laboratory is presided over by American scientist Thomson who successfully isolated stem cells.
According to the Evening News, researchers in the United States and Japan published papers respectively on the 20th, announcing the successful transformation of human skin cells into "pluripotent cells" similar to embryonic stem cells. Academic evaluation of this breakthrough is a "milestone" in biological science. Leading the American scientific research team to create "universal cells" is a female scientist from Zhejiang, China. 2 1 night, in an exclusive interview with reporters, Yu said that this technology has found a new beginning for stem cell research and may win the Nobel Prize. With the advent of this achievement, the ethical debate caused by cloning embryonic stem cells is expected to gradually subside. The research on transforming human skin cells into stem cells began in 2005. She said that there are three main reasons for doing this research. First of all, stem cell research has been controversial. Because the previous technical means to extract stem cells will destroy embryos, and human embryo cloning technology also causes ethical controversy. If human skin cells can be reduced to their original stem cells, this argument can be avoided. Secondly, if cells extracted from patients can be transformed into stem cells, their functions are similar to those obtained by embryo cloning technology, and they can eventually be cultured into human tissues or organs, which can become donors for organ transplantation of patients. Third, this stem cell can be the best test for drug detection. The genetic background of each patient is different. After the cells extracted from patients themselves are transformed into stem cells, the influence of drugs on patients can be accurately measured. With original ideas, there must be corresponding technical means. Yu said that when she did her previous project, she thought of making stem cells by transforming skin cells. "I think if there is a breakthrough in stem cell research, we should start by transforming other cells." A small accident brought down the "time race". What I didn't expect was that while she started to make "universal cells", a group of Japanese scientists also started the same research. On 20th, when the james thomson Laboratory of the University published this research in Science magazine, the research team led by Professor shinya yamanaka of Kyoto University also published a similar report in Cell magazine. The research methods and principles of the two groups are similar. Shinya yamanaka's team extracted skin cells called fibroblasts from the face of a 36-year-old woman. The skin cells in james thomson's laboratory come from the penis foreskin of newborns. Yu said that she knew there was a Japanese in 2006.
Japan Institute of Physical Chemistry announced that it had failed to find universal cells.
China Daily Online, August 27th (Xinlian) According to Japanese media reports, on August 27th, local time, the Japanese Institute of Physical Chemistry held a press conference and announced that the preliminary results of the confirmatory research on the omnipotent cell "STAP cell" showed that no signs of its existence were found.
Dan Yu-Shi, head of the Regenerative Science Comprehensive Research Center, who is in charge of this confirmatory experiment, said at the press conference that the confirmatory study of "STAP cells" led by Bao Fang Haruko Jr. failed to form "STAP cells" in the experiments on mice after nearly two months.
Although this report is called an intermediate report, it has actually denied Bao Fang Haruko's insistence on finding STAP universal cells.
20 14 12.26, the Japanese "academic goddess" Bao Fang Haruko's thesis fraud case added ironclad evidence: the investigation committee of the Institute of Physical Chemistry issued an investigation report on the doubts of STAP's thesis, saying that the so-called "STAP cells" may be a mixture of embryonic stem cells (ES cells) that have been proved to be omnipotent, and "STAP cells can basically be determined not to exist".
As all relevant personnel, including Xiao Haruko, denied that they were mixed with embryonic stem cells, the report said that the mixing process was "still a mystery" and the reason could not be thoroughly ascertained. Previously, the existence of STAP cells was actually denied because Kohokata himself failed to reproduce them. The report of the investigation Committee confirmed the view that STAP cells did not exist from the beginning.
Gui Ai, chairman of the investigation committee and director of the National Institute of Genetics of Japan, said at a press conference in Tokyo that "STAP paper has basically been completely rejected" and the committee "does not rule out the possibility that someone intentionally mixed es cells" because the cells were placed in the laboratory for 7 days during the production process, and it is impossible to determine whether anyone intentionally or negligently mixed ES cells.
The gene sequence variation of the remaining cells in Kohokata laboratory is more than 99% consistent with that of ES cells. Based on this, the Committee concluded that the experimental mice that can emit green light as universal evidence are probably made from ES cells, while STAP stem cells made from STAP cells are from ES cells.
In addition, the report also newly identified two chart frauds in Kohokata's paper. Kohokata admitted during the investigation that one of the charts lacked the necessary experimental steps, while the other chart was tampered with by her because the author of the paper said that the original data could not be used.