Scientists Announce Breakthrough in Stem Cell Research

April 10, 2017

(UPI) – Scientists have already successfully developed pluripotent stem cells in the lab, cells which can form any type of tissue. Totipotent stem cells are the pinnacle for stem cell scientists, however. And for the first time, researchers have found a way to engineer them. Unlike pluripotent stem cells, totipotent stem cells can form tissues that provide embryonic support, or extra-embryonic tissues, like the placenta and amniotic sac. In a study published this week in the journal Cell, a team scientists from California’s Salk Institute and Peking University, in China, announced the production of totipotent stem cells from cultured mouse and human stem cells.