Stem Cells from the Skin

This week the headlining news has once again to do with the production of Stem Cells- this time without using any embryos.
Skin cells (in the mouse) have been reprogrammed using a a small number of "transcription factors". These are small proteisn that control the expression of bits of DNA. What is remarkable is that a only a few signals were needed to make a major change in the cells. And the
work was duplicated by several groups- making it far more believable.
Lots yet to be done to make anything similar work in the human. I have personal experience
working with insulin, that clearly showed major differences between mouse & human. So stay tuned.