Making stem-cell therapy a reality
For the past two decades, scientists have been trying to fulfill the promise that stem-cell therapy holds for treating diseases such Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and many others. Their ultimate goal is to be able to remove healthy cells from a patient, reprogram them to stem cells, and induce them to differentiate into the type of cells the patient needs to treat a disease. “This scenario, which seemed like fantasy only a few years ago, is closer to reality,” Rudolf Jaenisch, professor of biology, said Tuesday at the annual James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Lecture. Established in 1971 as a tribute to MIT's 10th president, the Killian Award recognizes extraordinary professional accomplishment by an MIT faculty member.Jaenisch, a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and a pioneer in transgenic mice, stem-cell biology, mammalian cloning and regenerative medicine, spoke Tuesday on his latest research focus: stem-cell reprogramming and...