Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can now be generated by reprogramming somatic (or differentiated) cells without the risk of inducing cancer, said Chiou Shih-hwa (邱士華), an attending physician at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Department of Medical Research and Education.
IPS cells are generated through cellular reprogramming, which de-differentiates somatic cells, or converts adult cells to a stem cell-like, or pluripotent, state. Like embryotic stem cells, iPS cells can develop into any kind of cells that make up an adult organism and thus have the potential to be used in treating various illnesses.
The reprogrammed cells, or iPS cells, are a biomedical breakthrough made in 2006.
Photo: Wei Yi-chia, Taipei Times
The reprogramming is made possible by introducing four genes to the somatic cells, among which the c-Myc gene, however, is a proto-oncogene that increases the risk that reprogrammed somatic cells will turn cancerous, according to the article published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine by Chiou and nine other authors.
“The embryonic stem cells are without question with the greatest potential, but most of us don’t have access to our own, while stem cells from bone marrow or cord blood are more easily attainable, but don’t work as well,” Chiou said. “IPS cells have the advantages of both, and our contribution is making iPS cells safer for use.”
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift