From Nature Reports Stem Cells: November was an eventful month for stem cell research. First came the finding that embryonic stem cells could be made from cloned primate embryos; a week later came announcements that human skin cells could be genetically engineered to be virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells. Meanwhile, advances continued apace. The International Society for Stem Cell Research hosted its first conference in China, attracting hundreds of scientists (see this post on The Niche). Researchers in cardiovascular medicine debated how to apply knowledge toward therapies. And scientists from disparate disciplines pursue culture conditions better able to mimic what cells experience in vivo.

Achieving pluripotency in human cells

In October, we asked for feedback on how to tell when human cells deserve the label of pluripotency. Kyoto University’s Shinya Yamanaka discusses experimental design where having a positive control is impossible. The University of Sheffield’s Peter Andrews suggests that the term, like ‘gene’, might be more useful if it can mean a variety of subtly different things. Others offer the notion of a ‘pluripotency score’.

The collective wisdom is on The Niche.

Last month’s breakthroughs reprogramming adult human cells and cloning primate embryonic stem cells, make the need to define pluripotency all the more pressing. Nature Reports Stem Cells has put together a collection of relevant articles.

For these and more news, journal club, features and summaries of latest research, please visit Nature Reports Stem Cells, a free interactive forum for stem-cell scientists and others interested in the discipline to communicate about the research, policy, ethics, business and medicine of stem-cell science.