Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS)

Scientists have created the first-ever functional miniature human hearts in the lab. Grown from stem cells, these heart “organoids” are made up of all primary heart cell types, and could help build better models for treating disease.

Imagine needing a liver transplant and, instead of waiting for a donor, a new one could just be grown from your own skin cells. In a big step towards this, mini human livers grown from stem cells have been successfully transplanted into rats.

Stanford scientists may have found a way to essentially return older cells to a more youthful state. The adult cells are treated with a mix of proteins from early embryonic development, which removes many of the molecular signs of aging.

One emerging treatment for diabetes involves converting stem cells into beta cells that secrete insulin. Now scientists have developed a more efficient method, and implanting these cells in diabetic mice functionally cured them of the disease.

Organ transplants are invasive and donors hard to find. Treating kidney disease with stem cells is an option, and now researchers have isolated and studied kidney stem cells from urine samples, which could be a much easier way to collect them.

New research suggests Parkinson's may be present in the brain right from birth, as malfunctioning neurons are always there. Thankfully, a drug that’s already on the market could help prevent the disease from taking hold if caught early enough.

An incredible new study has for the first time found a way to transform skin cells into all three of the stem cell types that make up an early-stage embryo. This extraordinary discovery points a way toward creating an embryo without the need for an egg or sperm.

We have known for well over a century that exposure to certain environmental agents can result in DNA mutations that ultimately cause cancer. Now a team of UK scientists has developed a way to identify specific mutational signatures in tumors that can be linked to certain carcinogens.​

This installment of our Revolutions series brings you up to date with the ground-breaking new discoveries made around the regenerative possibilities of induced pluripotent stem cells, which can theoretically be coaxed into any kind of cell in the human body.

A possible diabetes cure could be found by replenishing a patient’s own supply of beta cells, which naturally produce insulin. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are a step closer to that kind of treatment, after tweaking the recipe for turning stem cells into beta cells.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have designed a silicone device, covered in 3D-printed neuronal stem cells, that can be implanted into a spinal injury. There it grows new connections between remaining nerves to let patients regain some motor control.

Researchers in Japan are making exciting progress on a way to potentially arrest the deterioration of motor skills in Parkinson's patients. They are now preparing to begin transplanting reprogrammed stem cells into human brains as part of a first-of-a-kind clinical trial.​​