Stem cells are pluripotent, quite simply, they are kids who havent decided what they want

to do with their lives. Theyre impressionable and innocent. And they will go on to college to become whatever their parents tell them to become (just like you), give or take a few rebels (just like me). Stem cell therapy involves harvesting them from embryos or from your own blood, bone marrow and fats. These are then used to replenish your body parts that may have succumbed to the wear and tear of aging, like the brain and heart. So stroke patients and those who have suffered heart attacks in the past can be given a new lease on life. But the older you get, the more elusive these stem cells become pretty much like the vaunted fountain of youth. Because once a stem cell differentiates or chooses what it wants to be, there can be no turning backor so we thought. Scientists John Gurdon (England) and Shinya Yamanaka (Japan) were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine last October 2012 in Stockholm for discovering that dogs can be taught new tricks, afterall. More specifically, they discovered ways to create tissue that would act like stem cells without scouring the body for them or subjecting a developing embryo to potential abortion. Their discovery has brought regenerative medicine to an entirely different playing field they have found a way to cure disease by growing healthy tissue. Its like turning your hard-headed 50 year old uncle into a malleable young boy once again, now thats worth awarding the Nobel Prize to. John Gurdon works at the Gurdon Insitute at Cambridge and was the first scientist to clone an animal back in 1962a tadpole. He showed that developed cells carry DNA which carry the information to make every cell in the body. His study lay the groundwork for scientists who made headlines the world over years later when they cloned the first mammal, a sheep called Dolly. Shinya Yamanaka of the Kyoto University, in 2002, produced mouse cells from adult mouse skin cells by inserting a small number of genes. His breakthrough demonstrated that development that takes place in adult tissue could be reversed, turning adult tissue back into stem cells. These stem cells, which are reverted from adult tissue are called induced pluripotency stem cells, or iPS cells.

The most practical and sought after application of this technology is to create stem cells from ones own body. This is called autologous transplant, and this decreases the likelihood of rejection of the graft (the tissue being transplanted) because it is from their own tissues. Immunosuppressive therapy is given when transplants are done to prevent rejection of the graft, the possibility of rejection increases exponentially when the donor tissue is from another person. The Gurdon Institute discloses that the eventual aim is to provide replacement cells of all kinds, at the same time doing away with rejection and the need for immunosuppression. Yamanakas work with mice has been cited by more than 4,000 scientists in their own work, he divulges that he feels great joy, but also a great sense of responsibility. Work with the iPS is still in its early stages, and one of the gravest concerns is that the implanted cells may develop out of control (just like the world population today) and develop into tumors. Another is that iPS may not work as well as the stem cells from embryos. But both scientists are hard at work for the quest to better health. We have long wished for human spare parts to replace limbs that couldnt grow back, brains that stop functioning and hearts that have given up after just so many cholesterol laden meals. Induced Pluripotency Stem Cells may just make that a reality. Who knows? They might even have an attitude transplant for your hardheaded, 50 year old uncle soon.