Creating Stem Cells with Acid Baths

Feb-01-14 Researchers have developed a way to create embryonic stem cells by subjecting white blood cells to stress, negating the need for an embryo or the introduction of genetic material and bringing us a step closer to personalized medicine.

The team, from the Risen Center for Developmental Biology, discovered that bringing white blood cells near death by subjecting the blood cells to stress, such as an acid bath, caused some of them to lose their “blood identity” and take on a state equivalent to stem cells. When the reverted cells, called STAP cells (for stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency), were placed in a growth-promoting solution, they took on the characteristics of embryonic stem cells.

The STAP method is faster and much less-expensive than current techniques, and eliminates the controversy surround stem cell research and its use of embryos.

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[DISCOVERY.COM]
[NEW YORK TIMES]

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