Early use of new DNA sequencing technology enables scientists to create whole genome maps of chromatin in embryonic stem cells and other cells

Scientists say they have created embryonic stem cells by stimulating unfertilized eggs, a significant step toward producing transplant tissue that is genetically matched to women.

Pope Benedict XVI has endorsed adult stem cell research, distinguishing it from the manipulation of stem cells from human embryos, which the Roman Catholic Church condemns.

Embryonic stem cells are unique because they can develop into virtually any kind of tissue type, an attribute called pluripotency. Somatic cell nuclear transfer ("therapeutic cloning") offers the hope of one day creating customized embryonic stem cells with a patient's own DNA.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC), those very young cells that are a biological blank slate, have the potential to become more specialized, contributing to the workings of a wide variety of organs and tissues.

Three teams of scientists say they have produced the equivalent of embryonic stem cells, at least in mice. Their procedure makes ordinary skin cells behave like stem cells. If the same can be done with human cells a big if the procedure could lead to breakthrough medical treatments without the contentious ethical and political debates surrounding the use of embryos.

Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding how cancers spread in what could lead to new ways of beating the disease.

Results of two studies funded by Project A.L.S. and appearing in today's advance online publication of Nature Neuroscience demonstrate that embryonic stem cells may provide a new tool for studying disease mechanisms and for identifying drugs to slow ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Two papers by Columbia and Harvard researchers report for the first time that astrocytes (the most abundant non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system), which carry a mutated gene known to cause some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease), induce motor neuron death. This indicates that astrocytes may contribute to ALS by releasing a toxic factor that damages neurons.