New stem cell era for Victorian scientists
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10 June 2008
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Victorian scientists at the cutting edge of stem cell research will be the first in Australia to work with a new type of stem cell sourced from adult cells, in a bid to discover new therapies for human diseases.
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Victoria is recognised as a world leader in international stem cell research, already working with somatic cell nuclear transfer methodology using embryonic stem cells.
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Doctors at the Australian Stem Cell Centre, who will be working with the new adult induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) believe it is too early to draw conclusions about whether these or rather embryonic stem cells will be most useful in the development of treatments for disease.
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Dr Andrew Laslett of the Australian Stem Cell Centre, said: “We plan to comprehensively compare the iPS cell lines to existing human embryonic stem cell lines using the first class scientific infrastructure and innovative characterisation and differentiation strategies in place at the Australian Stem Cell Centre.
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“These experiments will give us a greater understanding of the relative utility, advantages and potential barriers to the clinical use of iPS cells as compared directly to human embryonic stem cells.
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"What's different about these cells from human embryonic stem cells, is that they are created not from embryos but from skin cells for example, or adult cells from the human body.
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"It's a really exciting new area of research,” Dr Laslett said.
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The Australian Stem Cell Centre is funded by the Victorian and Australian governments and aims to undertake research of the highest quality in the stem cell field in order to discover and ultimately commercialise new therapies for human disease.
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