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Madison scientists have found a way to swap genes in and out of human embryonic stem cells, a milestone in making the cells a valuable tool for studying and treating diseases.
Being able to do this in mice has been a cornerstone of research in recent years and is a key reason the animals are so widely used in medical studies. Scientists can knock out or "knock in" a gene that causes a disease or controls something such as insulin or cholesterol.
Now there's a way to do that with human cells that can grow and divide endlessly, which embryonic stem cells can do but adult cells cannot. And it can be done in a lab dish, without exposing people to genetic experiments and unacceptable risks.
Adding or subtracting a gene is a way to create cells that cause specific diseases and also to figure out how important a single gene is in diseases that have multiple genetic factors, such as cancer.
"It allows you to manipulate every part of the genome you want, a kind of universal technique," said...