Word: retrovirus
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...Shinya Yamanaka, Kyoto University, turns back the clock on mouse skin cells to create the first induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, or stem cells made without the use of embryos. He uses only four genes, which are inserted into a skin cell's genome using retrovirus vectors...
...September Konrad Hochedlinger at Harvard creates iPS cells in mice using the common-cold virus rather than retrovirus vectors - an important step in making the technology safer for human...
...October Yamanaka creates mouse iPS cells using safer plasmids of DNA instead of retrovirus vectors...
Scientists have been exploring alternatives to the traditional—but harmful—retrovirus approach since researchers first reprogrammed human skin cells with the method late last year. Integrating these viruses into the cells' DNA causes permanent genetic manipulation, which can trigger malignant tumor growth, making them unsafe for human use. Scientists ultimately hope to clear this hurdle and treat a wide variety of human diseases by transplanting body tissues created from stem cells. Only three weeks ago, Harvard Medical School professor Konrad A. Hochedlinger and his colleagues at HSCI reported that they created mouse iPS cells using harmless...
...with all iPS work, direct reprogramming uses viruses to integrate the transcription factors into the target cells. Melton said that the retrovirus used in the creation of iPS cells may result in cancer-causing genes, but that the virus used in direct reprogramming does not cause such mutations and has been used for decades in human trials...