Virus-free Embryonic-like Stem Cells Made From Skin Of Parkinson's Disease Patients

Deploying a method that removes potentially cancer-causing genes, researchers have "reprogrammed" human skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state. Scientists then used these so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to create dopamine-producing neurons, the cell type that degenerates in Parkinson's disease patients. This marks first time researchers have generated human iPS cells, successfully removed the potentially problematic reprogramming genes, and seen the cells maintain their embryonic stem-cell-like state.

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