Clinical promise of stem cells potentially limitless, report says

Clinical promise of stem cells potentially limitless, report says

Now, scientists say, a gene Nanog may someday allow ordinary cells to posses same qualities, Health Day News reports.

The gene, named Nanog, after the mythical Celtic land of the ever young, was discovered by Professor Austin Smith and his team at Edinburgh University and reported in the journal, Nature. They showed Nanog helps reprogram adult mouse cells into embryonic stem cells.

Dr. Robert Goldstein, chief scientific officer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, believes these cells might someday be used to help replace insulin-producing cells in the pancreas that are destroyed in type 1 diabetes, according to Forbes.