A Kyoto University research institute has produced stem cells for stockpiled use in regenerative medicine from the umbilical blood of a newborn baby that is of higher quality than such cells made from adult blood.
The so-called induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells, which were derived from cord blood, were created in July and will soon be made available to other research bodies, the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application said Wednesday.
The center, led by Shinya Yamanaka, a 2012 Nobel Prize joint winner in medicine for research on artificially derived cells, has been aiming to stockpile iPS cells, which can be reprogrammed to grow into various human tissues and organs.