Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Researchers show how stem cells are reprogrammed, should spur treatment discovery

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Dec, 2014 11:15 AM

    TORONTO — A Canadian-led international team of researchers has created the first high-resolution characterization of the process in which stem cells are formulated from other specialized cells.

    The research is being touted as a breakthrough in utilizing stem cells to treat or even cure a host of diseases in the future. Certain stem cells have the potential to become any cell type in the body.

    Dr. Andras Nagy of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, who led the international research team, says stem cells hold enormous promise for treating or reversing such conditions as blindness, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury and stroke-related brain damage.

    The researchers also identified a new type of stem cells, called F-class stem cells due to their fuzzy appearance.

    Nagy says these F-class stem cells have unique properties that could open up new avenues for generating "designer" cells that may be safer and more efficient when used in future therapies.

    Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins hails the research as a game-changer that will open up new frontiers in scientific and medical knowledge worldwide.

    The research is detailed in five papers published Wednesday in the prestigious journals Nature and Nature Communications.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    TIME Person Of The Year: Modi Wins Poll, Loses Race

    TIME Person Of The Year: Modi Wins Poll, Loses Race
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the winner of this year's reader poll for TIME Person of the Year, but his name does not figure in the magazine editors' own list of final eight.

    TIME Person Of The Year: Modi Wins Poll, Loses Race

    Modi Needs To Show Results, Not Hype In Building India-us Ties: Shashi Tharoor

    Modi Needs To Show Results, Not Hype In Building India-us Ties: Shashi Tharoor
     Washington is "not susceptible" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "brand of alliterative rhetoric" like the three Ds and five Ts and was looking for "results, not hype", Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said.

    Modi Needs To Show Results, Not Hype In Building India-us Ties: Shashi Tharoor

    Haryana's Headline-Grabbing Sisters: Local Heroes Or Serial Men Beaters?

    Haryana's Headline-Grabbing Sisters: Local Heroes Or Serial Men Beaters?
    Just a week back, they were 'role models' and the darlings of the media and dial-a-quote experts who had dared to take on male tormentors in a patriarchal society in Haryana. 

    Haryana's Headline-Grabbing Sisters: Local Heroes Or Serial Men Beaters?

    Imran Khan Vows To Unleash Countrywide 'Storm'

    Imran Khan Vows To Unleash Countrywide 'Storm'
     Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan Monday vowed that a "storm" would be unleashed to "free the country from its oppressive rulers" after a party activist was killed in Faisalabad ahead of his call for a shutdown of the city, a Pakistani daily reported.

    Imran Khan Vows To Unleash Countrywide 'Storm'

    Turtles vs. turbines: Ontario's top court deciding on nine-turbine project

    Turtles vs. turbines: Ontario's top court deciding on nine-turbine project
    TORONTO — A legal battle pitting turtles against wind turbines is being heard in a packed Ontario courtroom.

    Turtles vs. turbines: Ontario's top court deciding on nine-turbine project

    Man accused of murdering missing spouse after police find remains in their home

    Man accused of murdering missing spouse after police find remains in their home
    CALGARY — A Calgary man charged in the murder of his missing spouse after police found human remains in his house has had his court case put over.

    Man accused of murdering missing spouse after police find remains in their home