Adult Stem Cells

I just came across this article on the Washington Post website... this is just incredible! It seems that scientists have been able to change a fully developed adult stem cell into another inside a living being (mice, in this case). The implications are very exciting - here is an excerpt from the article...

"The experiments, detailed online yesterday in the journal Nature, raise the prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies."

I hope they are able to test this on actual people soon - the article mentioned that one scientist is hoping to start studies involving people with diabetes within a year (how exciting!)