Scientists ‘reset’ human stem cells to ‘blank state’

Scientists have learned to “reset” human stem cells to their earliest state. This breakthrough gives hope for millions of people suffering from incurable conditions, like Parkinson’s Disease, as scientists hope their success would lead to cures.
British and Japanese scientists have managed to reboot stem cells to the state equivalent 7 to 10-day old embryo, before it implants in the womb.
“These cells may represent the real starting point for formation of tissues in the human embryo,” said Austin Smith, director of the Britain's Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, who co-led the research. “Capturing embryonic stem cells is like stopping the developmental clock at the precise moment before they begin to turn into distinct cells and tissues.”
Until now it was only possible to produce what in scientific language is called pluripotent stem cells in the lab either from cells extracted from a very early stage embryo or from adult cells that have been induced into a pluripotent state.
Human pluripotent stem cells are first of all valuable because of their unique capability to become any of the cells and tissues in the body.
It is much easier to control the process of generating stem cells in mouse cells which can be frozen in a state in their naïve or “blank state” using a protein called LIF. But this is not the case with human cells, which are not as responsive to LIF. That means they require different control, involves switching key genes on and off.
For this reason scientists have been unable to generate human pluripotent cells that are as primitive or as consistent as mouse embryonic stem cells.
To avoid this problem, the scientists introduced two genes – NANOG and KLF2 – which caused a network of genes controlling the cell to reboot and induce the early pluripotent state.
So now, those “reset cells” share many of the characteristics of authentic naïve embryonic stem cells isolated from mice, suggesting that they represent the earliest stage of development.