Stem cells from mice 'could be the key to finding new cures'

Researchers from Oxford and Cambridge universities have discovered that mice can produce embryonic stem cells very similar to those found in human embryos.

The findings will make it easier to use mice, and other animals, to study human diseases and could lead to new treatments for conditions such as diabetes and cystic fibrosis in as little as five years.

The breakthrough will help scientists understand how human embryonic stem cells work but they will still need to use human cells at the stage of synthesising organs and tissues for use in humans.

Ethicists say, however, any reduction in human embryonic stem cell research can only be applauded. Josephine Quintavalle, of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: "This would be greeted with much enthusiasm.

"We have always said that the move from animal-kind to human embryonic stem cells has gone too fast and animal research has never been properly explored."

A steady supply of animal cells will lessen the need for stem cells taken from human embryos, a practice that is mired in controversy, as harvesting the cells from embryos leads to their death.

Stem cells are master cells which can change into every type of tissue. They are seen as a "repair kit" for the body, which can potentially replace the defective, dead and worn out cells behind conditions from diabetes to Alzheimer's.

Until now, stem cells taken from mice have been very different to those found in human embryos.

But in two landmark pieces of research, carried out independently from one another, scientists have managed to obtain mouse embryonic stem cells that are virtually indistinguishable from their human counterparts.

Not only do they look very similar to human cells under the microscope but they rely on the same proteins for growth and have many genetic similarities, the journal Nature reported.