small California biotech company backed by a billionaire claims to have created stem cells without destroying human embryos or introducing cancer-causing genes, in what could be a major step toward using these stem cells for human trials.
But the company provided almost no details of how its method worked, leading to skepticism among many scientists. Instead of publishing its method in a scientific journal, the company, PrimeGen Biotech of Irvine, Calif., released the news during a brief presentation at a stem cell industry conference in New York. That means that it sidestepped the careful anonymous vetting that normally accompanies discoveries published in journals like Science or Nature.
PrimeGen's work builds on the stunning news last fall that researchers in Japan and Wisconsin had reprogrammed skin cells to make primordial stem cells without destroying embryos. Little-noted in the news reports at the time was that to make these cells, the scientists needed to introduce cancer-causing genes into the cells using gene-altered viruses. This makes the resultant cells unsuitable for human therapy, although they are a boon for lab research.
PrimeGen claimed Tuesday it had circumvented this problem. Instead of genes, it uses unspecified carbon-based 'delivery particles' to insert four proteins into cells to stimulate the reprogramming process. This caused some of the cells to revert to being much like embryonic stem cells, PrimeGen said. PrimeGen said it has done the experiment with retinal, skin and testicular cells. 'Our goals are ambitious--we believe with this therapy, we can be in clinic in 2010,' said PrimeGen president John Sundsmo in an interview. He said he couldn't release details on what the delivery particles are until the company finalizes an agreement with a corporate partner
http://www.stockhouse.ca/mediascan/news.asp?newsid=10274994
Read on.
But the company provided almost no details of how its method worked, leading to skepticism among many scientists. Instead of publishing its method in a scientific journal, the company, PrimeGen Biotech of Irvine, Calif., released the news during a brief presentation at a stem cell industry conference in New York. That means that it sidestepped the careful anonymous vetting that normally accompanies discoveries published in journals like Science or Nature.
PrimeGen's work builds on the stunning news last fall that researchers in Japan and Wisconsin had reprogrammed skin cells to make primordial stem cells without destroying embryos. Little-noted in the news reports at the time was that to make these cells, the scientists needed to introduce cancer-causing genes into the cells using gene-altered viruses. This makes the resultant cells unsuitable for human therapy, although they are a boon for lab research.
PrimeGen claimed Tuesday it had circumvented this problem. Instead of genes, it uses unspecified carbon-based 'delivery particles' to insert four proteins into cells to stimulate the reprogramming process. This caused some of the cells to revert to being much like embryonic stem cells, PrimeGen said. PrimeGen said it has done the experiment with retinal, skin and testicular cells. 'Our goals are ambitious--we believe with this therapy, we can be in clinic in 2010,' said PrimeGen president John Sundsmo in an interview. He said he couldn't release details on what the delivery particles are until the company finalizes an agreement with a corporate partner
http://www.stockhouse.ca/mediascan/news.asp?newsid=10274994
Read on.