
Human skin cells transformed directly into motor neurons - dnetesn
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-human-skin-cells-motor-neurons.html
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cryoshon
wait for the third party confirmation of their results.

papers with findings exactly like this one have been found to be complete and
total fabrications numerous times over the last few years.

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frozenport
Im of the opposite opinion. Other groups have shown more extreme conversions.
For example, one group has shown conversion of skin into eggs cells.

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kensai
OP is right. This is state-of-the-art experimental science. Needs to be
confirmed before opening the champagne bottle.

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kstenerud
"Avoiding the stem cell phase eliminates ethical concerns raised when
producing what are called pluripotent stem cells, which are similar to
embryonic stem cells in their ability to become all adult cell types."

Wait... what??? Why is this even remotely a concern?

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thedailymail
The concern is that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are known to form tumors
(teratomas) when transplanted subcutaneously in mice; induced pluripotent stem
cells (iPSCs), which are generated by reprogramming ordinary cells into ESC-
like pluripotent cells, also form teratomas. This creates challenges for a lot
of proposed cell transplantation protocols because pushing pluripotent cells
to differentiate into a mature cell type (such as motor neurons) is not 100%
efficient, and the transplantation of even a small number of residual
pluripotent cells could lead to tumorigenesis. The direct reprogramming method
described in this article bypasses the pluripotency step, which could make it
safer for clinical use.

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andars
That doesn't seem like an ethical issue.

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danharaj
Can't ethically perform trials on humans if you can accidentally and easily
give them cancer.

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ada1981
Or maybe also people who have religious views about stem cell research?

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nawgszy
>religious views about stem cell[s]

I find this hilarious. Not knocking your comment or anything, just fairly sure
religious texts didn't say 'thou shall not induce artificial stem cell growth'

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mschuster91
> Not knocking your comment or anything, just fairly sure religious texts
> didn't say 'thou shall not induce artificial stem cell growth'

Well many religious texts disallow altering your body in any way - Jehovas
Witnesses, for example, even prohibit blood transfusions, and in Islam it's
haram (a sin) to have tattoos.

Pretty certain this would also prohibit doing experimental stuff with stem
cells.

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nielsbot
serious question: is tattoos being haram open to interpretation? i know the
bible for example can be seen an conflicting itself in many places.

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mschuster91
I'm neither Muslim nor an Imam, but apparently a majority of Muslims seems to
believe it: [https://www.thoughtco.com/tattoos-in-
islam-2004393](https://www.thoughtco.com/tattoos-in-islam-2004393)

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nielsbot
thanks.

