Scientists team up on stem cells

TOKYO: A new team of US and Japanese researchers is stepping up the global race to perfect a cutting-edge technology that could offer an alternative to embryonic stem cell research.

Kyoto University and iZumi Bio Inc, a biotechnology startup based in South San Francisco, California, announced this week that they would begin collaborating on "induced pluripotent" stem cell technology - a type of cellular reprogramming that turns the clock back on ordinary skin tissue.

Called "iPS" for short, the new technique tinkers with human skin cells so they behave like embryonic stem cells, which can potentially morph into things like heart and nerve cells, as well as lead to new therapies for currently incurable diseases.