In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Nature today (Aug. 16, 2023), Australian scientists say they have developed a new method to reprogram human cells, better mimicking embryonic stem cells, with significant implications for biomedical and therapeutic uses.

Called “transient-naive-treatment (TNT) reprogramming,” the method mimics the reset of a cell’s epigenome that happens in very early embryonic development, and it addresses a long-term problem in regenerative medicine.

“We need stem cells to replace our old cells, which are capable of only a limited number of replications,” explained Dr. Deborah Duong, CTO of Rejuve.AI and an AI researcher for Singularity Net. “However, the amount of stem cells we have decreases as we age. So this could be part of an answer, but there is still a long way to go.”

The research is led by Professor Ryan Lister from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia and Professor Jose M. Polo from Monash University and the University of Adelaide.

Citation: Sam Buckberry et al. Aug. 16, 2023. Transient naive reprogramming corrects hiPS cells functionally and epigenetically. Nature /s41586-023-06424-7 (open-access)

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