TEDMED 2010 illustrated

Last week I arrived in Moscow from one of best and most inspiring conferences in the world – TEDMED. I’d love to share some pictures and exiting ideas I learned during those fascinating four days in San Diego. So, here we go.

Canadian Scientists Make Blood from Human Skin

Scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to transform human skin into blood. The researchers had previously used chemicals to transform mouse skin cells into neurons, but this is the first time human cells have been altered in this manner.

The team created blood progenitor cells, the mother cells that multiply to produce other blood cells as well as mature blood cells. Both types of cells are useful in medical treatments, said study leader Mick Bhatia, a stem cell scientist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Bhatia’s team had been focused on generating blood cells for more than 10 years. Stem cells weren’t efficient at generating blood cells that were suitable for clinical use so for the past two years, the team has been converting skin cells directly into blood cells.