Circa 2016
In a world first, Australian scientists have figured out how to reprogram adult bone or fat cells to form stem cells that could potentially regenerate any damaged tissue in the body.
The researchers were inspired by the way salamanders are able to replace lost limbs, and developed a technique that gives adult cells the ability to lose their adult characteristics, multiply and regenerate multiple cell types — what is known as multipotency. That means the new stem cells can hypothetically repair any injury in the body, from severed spinal cords to joint and muscle degeneration. And it’s a pretty big deal, because there are currently no adult stem cells that naturally regenerate multiple tissue types.
“This technique is a significant advance on many of the current unproven stem cell therapies, which have shown little or no objective evidence they contribute directly to new tissue formation,” said lead researcher John Pimanda from the University of New South Wales, Faculty of Medicine (UNSW Medicine). “We are currently assessing whether adult human fat cells reprogrammed into [induced multipotent stem cells (iMS cells)] can safely repair damaged tissue in mice, with human trials expected to begin in late 2017.”
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