
Human blood cells can be directly reprogrammed into neural stem cells - myinnerbanjo
https://www.dkfz.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/2018/dkfz-pm-18-71-Human-blood-cells-can-be-directly-reprogrammed-into-neural-stem-cells.php
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JackStriker
I was directed to ask these questions here. Perhaps someone can help.

>They can be modified and multiplied indefinitely in the culture dish

What conditions exist within a culture that allow stem cells (or other cells)
to replicate without regard for the Hayflick limit? I was totally unaware that
we had extended it (not defeated it) in any life more complex than a worm. And
on the topic of the Hayflick limit…

>What is special about the reprogrammed cells of the Heidelberg researchers is
that they are a homogeneous cell type that resembles a stage of neural stem
cells that occurs during the embryonic development of the nervous system.

Are they saying that the stem cells can be reprogrammed into cells that more
greatly _resemble_ younger human cells, or that they're actually being made
_into_ scientifically-defined _younger_ cells? How is that even possible? I
was under the impression that all cloned cells retained their telomerase
length. As such, any clone (or cloned tissue) made from them isn't going to be
any more "youthful" than the original. If the case is that an entirely cloned
organism is made, it will only a life expectancy as long as the original has
LEFT to live–since the telomere isn't restored to its original length.

I guess they wouldn't call it a "regenerative" therapy if they hadn't fixed
the telomere length problem in the cloned cells, but… if they _have_ , isn't
that sort of the single biggest fucking deal in human history? Isn't this the
first time that human cells have been genuinely restored to youth, and could
therefore be reapplied into a person to extend his life? And, thereafter, be
the gateway into figuring out how to simply restore the DNA of cells in the
body without excision and replacement?

Thanks for any answers!

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fanzhang
Many types of human-cells don't abide by the classic Hayflick limit, including
HeLa cells, cancer cells, and gametes.

This brings up the point: if the cells can indeed divide indefinitely, which
even stem cells cannot, then aren't these effectively cancer cells / made
cancerified? Perhaps this was done on purpose independently to make the cell
culture easier to work with, but that should have been mentioned.

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thomasfedb
They might share some properties with cancer cells, but probably not all the
key characteristics.

For example, one key feature of a cancer cell is that it ignores signals that
would causes normal cells to stop growing or apoptose (die).

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disabled
This is very uplifting news! This makes me feel very hopeful about the future,
too.

I personally have 2 rare autoimmune neurological diseases that affect my
peripheral nervous system. One of them is very rare, and there is only case
reports and cohorts of it, at best, in the medical literature.

There will likely never be an FDA-approved treatment for what I have, and this
is why precision medicine needs to exist formally, with proper regulation via
government. Unfortunately, the United States government has not been adapting,
in a progressive way, to the changing times, with respect to emerging
technologies, in general.

This sounds strange, but the lack of a reforming/progressive government is the
greatest threat to my well being with rare neurological diseases and being
disabled.

I hope that therapies and cures can come sooner than later for everyone. I
also hope these therapies are not prohibitively expensive or inaccessible.

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kposehn
It looks like this builds on the 2007 and 2012 publications.

> Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the stem cell
> institute HI-STEM* in Heidelberg have succeeded for the first time in
> directly reprogramming human blood cells into a previously unknown type of
> neural stem cell. These induced stem cells are similar to those that occur
> during the early embryonic development of the central nervous system. They
> can be modified and multiplied indefinitely in the culture dish and can
> represent an important basis for the development of regenerative therapies.

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eyeball
When can I inject this and fix my stroke? Hurry please. :)

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steelframe
I'd caution against randomly re-wiring chunks of your CNS. There's probably a
very good reason why we don't naturally do that.

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zupa-hu
I'd caution against randomly flying across cities. There's probably a very
good reason why we don't naturally do that.

Just pointing out that this is a weak argument.

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kakarot
Many people were injured or killed trying to invent flying machines until we
finally got it right.

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grogenaut
Many many people have already died of brains issues. On the order of 5% of
everyone who has lived ever. Esp in the last 2 centuries which from some
counts is more than ever lived before.

Your simile would be apt if people not getting to the other side of the city
were dying or having greatly decreased quality of life (alzheimers, stroke).

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monocasa
I thought blood cells shed their nucleus?

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saagarjha
Red blood cells do. Leukocytes are nucleated.

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leowoo91
What happens to the telomeres?

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rubatuga
I wouldn't worry too much, neurons don't divide indefinitely.

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techbio
Is this something that occurs naturally? As in, are there normal pathways by
which cells change their types in beneficial ways?

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giardini
An analogous manifestation can be triggered by drilling holes in the kneecap
allowing blood to move into damaged cartilage (say, below a kneecap). In the
new environment, some of the red blood cells apparently transform into
cartilagenous cells and repair the cartilage. Some doctors in sports
physiology were doing this decades ago. No significant pressure can be put on
the knee for 3-6 months but the solution was well worth it to the individual
with whom I spoke.

So it seems that it is likely a natural/normal method of repair although it
may be very slow w/o some prompting (drilling the holes, in this example).

A newer technique that sounds very similar but more general is P.R.P.
(Platelet Rich Plasma) therapy:

New Yorker: "The Blood Injections That Might Transform Orthopedics"(2013)

[https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-
bloo...](https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-blood-
injections-that-might-transform-orthopedics)

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jjendoplasm
This has been around for quite some time. 2007 publication by Yamanaka, and
then 2012 by Weissman/Wernig et all.

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corpMaverick
Would this be an argument against umbilical cord banks ?

