Korea Again Makes Stem Cell Therapy Breakthrough
Related News: Stem Cell Research, Stem Cells and DiabetesResearchers in Korea have taken another leap forward advancing technologies revolving around the growth of stem cells into specific cells.
This latest breakthrough was headed by Seoul National University professor Moon Shin-yong, and his team. They said yesterday that they have found a method of coaxing human embryonic stem cells into insulin-secreting cells, essentially one step before making the beta cells that are in the pancreas.
"Scientists have typically depended on gene manipulation to harvest specific cells from stem cell batches. But we adopted a new way of using protein to make progress," the 57-year-old Moon said.
Moon’s team injected specific proteins into batches of embryonic stem cells and watched them differentiate into insulin-secreting cells, which can go on to develop into the pancreatic beta cells.
This latest in differentiation technology is currently one of the hottest segments of stem cell research and highly sought after by international embryologists, including world-famous cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk.
Posted on June 29, 2005 03:28 PM