Researchers from IIT Guwahati and CMC Vellore convert skin cells into programmable stem cells

Building on the 2012 Nobel-winning discovery of Yamanaka, the IITG-CMC team introduces specific genes into skin cells to transform them into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs).

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), under the leadership of Dr Rajkumar Thummer, in collaboration with scientists from Christian Medical College, Vellore, have reported a method to convert regular human skin cells into pluripotent stem cells.

Explaining the basics of stem cells, Dr. Rajkumar P. Thummer, Assistant Professor, Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati, said, “The human body is made of many kinds of cells – nerve cells, heart cells, liver cells, pancreatic cells, and so on, with unique structures and functions. All these distinctive cells originate from stem cells to perform a specific function. Lack of any of this cell type in a human body will result in a disease or disorder. Thus, stem cells can be programmed to develop into mature functional cells, which can be used to replace damaged cells.”

Stem Cells have to be extracted from embryos or parts of the adult human body like the brain or bone marrow, which is challenging from both ethical and practical aspects. Thus, scientists are exploring techniques to convert ordinary cells, like skin or blood cells, into pluripotent stem cells – stem cells that can be programmed to develop into any other form of an adult cell type. These cells are called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs). The most important advantage of iPSCs is their potential to produce patient-specific cells which can be transplanted to the site of injury or the site of tissue degeneration due to various disease conditions, and thereby, eliminate any chance of immune rejection.

The conversion of mature cells into iPSCs was first shown by Prof. Shinya Yamanaka, who won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for his discovery. This research involved introducing specific genes into mature cells to convert them into iPSCs.

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