Time
reports. Excerpt:
After nearly a decade of setbacks and false
starts, stem-cell science finally seems to be hitting its stride. Just a year
after Japanese scientists first reported that they had generated stem cells by
reprogramming adult skin cells — without using embryos — American researchers
have managed to use that groundbreaking technique to achieve another scientific
milestone. They created the first nerve cells from reprogrammed stem cells — an
important demonstration of the potential power of stem-cell-based treatments to
cure disease.
As NPR
reports, these ethically obtained stem cells are not yet ready for
treatment, but the research provides hope that the neural cell destroyed by ALS
might one day be regenerated through induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC).
The
Telegraph also reports.