Medical potential of IPS stem cells exaggerated says world authority

From The Times

February 17, 2010

Mark Henderson, Science Editor

The medical potential of reprogrammed stem cells that do not require the destruction of embryos has been exaggerated, according to the head of one of the world’s leading regenerative medicine companies.

Thomas Okarma, the chief executive of Geron Corporation, told The Times that while so-called induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells will be extremely useful in research, they are unlikely to be suitable for transplanting to patients to treat disease.

“IPS cells have been talked up as therapy by people with no experience of developing therapies,” Dr Okarma said. More>