Slow Progress on Nanog, Pluripotency
Researchers are making slow but steady progress towards creating pluripotent cells from adult cells - to recapture the regenerative utility of embryonic stem cells on demand. Via Forbes: "Nanog was first identified in 2003. It is a protein that acts in embryonic stem cells [and in the early embryo] to keep cells pluripotent. ... At the moment, it is not yet feasible to turn an adult cell into an embryonic stem cell simply by introducing Nanog ... Many other molecular players are likely to be involved and [there] is still much more work to be done to unravel the whole process of reprogramming [cells] ... Stem cell research is arguably one of the most exciting fields of biomedical research today, but, as with all scientific endeavors, it advances step by step, at times apparently gently, but always surely."
Link: http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/06/14/hscout533242.html