Adult stem cells are stem cells in the body that have limited capacity for self renewal and differentiation (they can generally only become cells of the type of organ they are located in).
These researchers were not using these type of cells. What they did use were regular somatic cells (ie. a regular skin cell). They then reprogrammed them into iPS cells using a combination of retroviruses. iPS cells are equivalent to embryonic stem cells in that they can be grown indefinitely, and can become any cell type in the body.
The researchers then used existing techniques for differentiating embryonic stem cells, to differentiate the iPS cells they made into neurons.
Moreover, because of the technique used to generate the iPS cell (using retroviruses to introduce oncogenes), these cells are even more likely to generate tumors than embryonic stem cells.
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Adult stem cells are stem cells in the body that have limited capacity for self renewal and differentiation (they can generally only become cells of the type of organ they are located in).
These researchers were not using these type of cells. What they did use were regular somatic cells (ie. a regular skin cell). They then reprogrammed them into iPS cells using a combination of retroviruses. iPS cells are equivalent to embryonic stem cells in that they can be grown indefinitely, and can become any cell type in the body.
The researchers then used existing techniques for differentiating embryonic stem cells, to differentiate the iPS cells they made into neurons.
Moreover, because of the technique used to generate the iPS cell (using retroviruses to introduce oncogenes), these cells are even more likely to generate tumors than embryonic stem cells.