India, Aug. 16 -- Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G), in collaboration with scientists from Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, have reported a method to convert regular human skin cells into pluripotent stem cells.

Stem cells have to be extracted from embryos or parts of the adult human body like the brain or bone marrow, which is challenging from both ethical and practical aspects. Thus, scientists are exploring techniques to convert ordinary cells, like skin or blood cells, into pluripotent stem cells - stem cells that can be programmed to develop into any other form of an adult cell type.

These cells are called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs). The most important advantage of iPSCs is th...