One of the most promising areas of stem cellⁱ research involves transforming adult cells into embryonic stem-like cells. In a landmark study in 2006, Shinya Yamanaka and his colleagues at Kyoto University used genetic manipulation to turn mouse skin cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cellsⁱ – or artificially-created stem cells.

Haematopoietic stem cells (HS cells) are the body's blood bank, giving rise to all types of blood cell including leukocytes and erythrocytes. Each time an HS cell produces a mature blood cell, it also produces a replica of itself, which continues to function as an "immortal" inexhaustible stem cell. This way, our supply of HS cells - a rare cell population lodging mainly in the adult bone marrow - is never used up.

With a final debate and a vote on four submitted proposals to amend the 'Act ensuring the protection of embryos in connection with the importation and utilization of human embryonic stem cellsⁱ', the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) decided on the future of stem cell research in Germany on 11th April.

Most of the limited public research funds in Italy are distributed through direct negotiation between the national and regional governments (and their administrators) and research institutions or even individual scientists. It is not uncommon to read in newspapers that millions of euros have gone to a research centre or to individual scientists, in the absence of any kind of long-term national strategy, and worse, without any open and public competition for the best proposals.

In 2007, a highly publicized paper was published in the first tier scientific journal, Nature Biotechnology. The authors described the derivation of amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells. The authors presented evidence that AFS cells differentiate into several cell types, including neurons.