Scientists have successfully cloned the first human embryonic stem cells, which they hope will someday be used to treat diseases.
In a report published Monday in the journal Nature, researchers described using cloning technology to develop stem cells to match a woman with Type 1 diabetes, NBC News reported.
"It may be a bit in the future but it is going to happen," said study author Dr. Dieter Egli of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, as quoted by NBC News.
The scientists used somatic cell nuclear transfer, which involves taking the nucleus from a regular cell and then inserting it into a human egg cell whose own nucleus has been removed. The egg was then "tricked" into developing as if it had been fertilized, growing into a blastocyst.
During the blastocyst phase, the cells aren't yet differentiated into nerve, blood, bone and other cells.
"These stem cells could therefore be used to generate cells for therapeutic cell replacement," the researchers wrote. Stem cells are vital because they have the potential to become many different kinds of cells and serve to replenish cells in living human or animal tissues.
In another study published this month, scientists detailed using skin cells from two men, ages 35 and 75, respectively, to make stem cells, CNN reported.
"It's a remarkable process that gives us these master cells, these stems cells that are essentially the seeds for all of the tissues in our bodies," said George Daley, director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Boston Children's Hospital, who was not involved in the recent studies, as quoted by CNN. "That's why it's so important for medical research."
Embryonic stem cell research continues to be controversial since using cells means killing the embryo and because scientists have discovered that embryos are not needed to develop cells that match patients.
In 2012, Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine after discovering the process for "induced pluripotent stem cells," which are developed by inserting genes into mature cells to reverse their maturity and reprogram them into the needed cells.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?