Scientists Identify Synthetic Compound That Keeps Stem Cells Young; Discovery Could Accelerate Stem Cell Research, Development of New Disease Treatments.

(From AScribe)

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine has discovered a new synthetic compound that can support growth and self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells, offering a simple alternative to current growth conditions that may vary batch-to-batch and confuse experimental results.

The findings, reported in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, should accelerate stem cell research and offer new insights into cell biology that could aid in the development of treatments for diseases such as cancer and Parkinson's.

Embryonic stem cell research has been plagued by problems arising from undefined conditions for growing and differentiating stem cells. Embryonic stem …