Scientists hail stem cells 'leap'

Cancer patients or those suffering from Parkinson's disease may not have to wait for donors in future following a "huge leap" forward in stem cell production, scientists have said.

Researchers have simplified and improved the laborious three-week process so that it can now be completed within days and with 100% efficiency.

This means doctors could eventually treat patients much more quickly using their own cells rather than performing a risky transplant.

Jacob Hanna, one of the team behind the discovery, said the procedure would remove the possibility of a transplant patient's body rejecting an organ.

"We now know how to control a cell's fate and really understand exactly how to make a stem cell from a skin cell, safely and robustly," he said.

"A major goal in the future, the great promise of our research, is that a patient in need of a liver transplant, for example, could go to a clinic and have a biopsy taken. Doctors could then, very quickly and efficiently, make stem cells.

"They would then be able to give a patient back the liver cells he needs from his own stem cells and there would be no need to look for donors."

Dr Hanna, assistant professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, added: "Because the transplant is with the patient's own cells, his body cannot reject these cells.

"There would be no need to wait for a donor or a match. This would also eliminate the risk of rejections."

Scientists said their advances could be used to treat any number of diseases - including cancer and Parkinson's - within the next 10 years.

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Scientists hail stem cells 'leap'