Biology's New Supermodel

http://the-scientist.com/2011/07/20/biology’s-new-supermodel/

Move over mice. Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are making strides to become the next best thing in translational research—disease-specific human cells grown in a dish. Using a variety of approaches, researchers have generated stem cells from mature adult cells of disease-afflicted patients and subsequently differentiated them into the various tissue types involved in the disease.

The strategy is proving particularly valuable for neurodegenerative diseases, in which it is not easy to safely and ethically extract affected cells of the brain. Instead, researchers can remove more accessible cells, such as those of the skin, regress them into a pluripotent state, and then re-differentiate them into neurons. Furthermore, iPS cells can be expanded in culture and/or frozen for years, providing an unlimited supply of cells from a single patient that can be used to create any cell types needed for the study of a particular disease, now or in the future.

Seems ethical and effective.