Major Stem Cell Related Discovery by Dr. Haruko Obokata

The most read story on BBC today:

Stem cells can now be made quickly just by dipping blood cells into acid

New Scientist article

As is usually the case, the results have only been shown in mice as of now:-)  Nevertheless, seems like a lot of scientists around the world are excited about this.

My favorite quotes:

Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, said if it also works in humans then “the age of personalised medicine would have finally arrived.”

Prof Lovell-Badge said: “It is going to be a while before the nature of these cells are understood, and whether they might prove to be useful for developing therapies, but the really intriguing thing to discover will be the mechanism underlying how a low pH shock triggers reprogramming – and why it does not happen when we eat lemon or vinegar or drink cola?”

Also make me wonder if there really is some sound logic behind alkaline diets.

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