The top item on prime-time television news in Germany on 21 November featured a statement from research minister Annette Schavan. She was responding to the publication of two studies in which scientists had reprogammed mature adult human cells to behave in a similar way to embryonic stem cells. The findings, she said, vindicated her preference for adult stem-cell research and reprogramming over work on human embryonic stem cells. After all, who needs embryonic cells if it is possible to flick a switch in skin cells to make them a source of virtually any type of cell for perfectly matched tissue replacement?
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