Chinese scientists have discovered a drug cocktail capable of converting a certain type of stem cells into a much more powerful version that has the potential to become a complete organism alone, according to a study published in the latest issue of Journal Nature this week.
experts said that the discovery of this "elixir of life", which involves three main ingredients, has raided the way for scientists to explore the complex process of how an organism develops from the early stages of life. This is critical for the research of stem cells, regenerative medicine and the preservation of in danger of critical extinction. Theoretical greases to replicate an existing organism without using reproductive cells such as sperm and eggs.
In the study, scientists from the University of Tsinghua found a combination of small molecular compounds that can convert pluripotent stem cells of a laboratory mouse into a laboratory in an improved version called Totipotent Stem cells.
The drug cocktail, called TAW, contains the TTNPB, 1-Alakenpaullone and WS6 chemicals. The researchers cultivated pluripotent stem cells of mouse in Petri plates containing TAW and created totipotent stem cells that retained their signature characteristics measures through a variety of complete and strict test criteria.
A totipotent stem cell is an embryonic cell formed within the very early phases of cell division after fertilization. It is the most versatile stem cell, since it can be differentiated in any cell cell, as well as the cells that constitute the placental tissues and the fetal membranes, which exist outside the embryo. As a result, the totipotent stem cell is commonly considered the "seed of life."
Pluripotent stem cells differ from totipotent cells during the posterior development stages, therefore, they lose part of their versatility but remain they remain capable of becoming any type of cell that composes the body.
"Normally after totipotent cells, none of the other stem cells have the possibility of becoming a life on his own," said Ding Sheng, the corresponding author of the study and dean of the School of Sciences University Pharmaceuticals.
ding said that the greatest importance of the study is demonstrating that life does not always need to originate in the cells of the germ line － The cells that sexually reproduce organisms use to transmit their genomes of one generation to the next . Finding an alternative to the form of the nature of creating the beginning of life, represented by the manufacture of totipotent stem cells, is considered the "Holy Grail of Biology," Ding said.
In the past, scientists became successful somatic the cells, any cell in the body that is not sperm and eggs, in pluripotent stem cells. That discovery formed the basis of regenerative medicine based on stem cells, and then received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012.
Now, scientists are one step closer to creating and understanding life, although only in terms of terms of a laboratory mouse. However, Ding said his team is very aware of the possible philosophical and ethical ramifications of his work.
ding said his research is carried out according to rigorous ethical standards, but society's ethical concerns are constantly evolving. Therefore, it is the duty of scientists to focus on providing knowledge and tools for future generations to make informed decisions regarding the ethical limits of innovative technology, he added.
Chinese scientists have taken great steps in stem cell research this year, with the journal Nature Publishing a study by the Academy of Sciences of China in March, followed by another from the University of Beijing in April in April .
The March study backed the human pluripotent stem cells to an embryo of eight cells as well as the stage, taking another step to become totipotent stem cells. April's study used chemicals to reprogram hu
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