TORONTO A Canadian-led international team of researchers has created the first high-resolution characterization of the process in which stem cells are formulated from other specialized cells.

The research is being touted as a breakthrough in utilizing stem cells to treat or even cure a host of diseases in the future. Certain stem cells have the potential to become any cell type in the body.

Dr. Andras Nagy of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, who led the international research team, says stem cells hold enormous promise for treating or reversing such conditions as blindness, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, spinal cord injury and stroke-related brain damage.

The researchers also identified a new type of stem cells, called F-class stem cells due to their fuzzy appearance.

Nagy says these F-class stem cells have unique properties that could open up new avenues for generating designer cells that may be safer and more efficient when used in future therapies.

Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins hails the research as a game-changer that will open up new frontiers in scientific and medical knowledge worldwide.

The research is detailed in five papers published Wednesday in the prestigious journals Nature and Nature Communications.

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Breakthrough research may speed up stem cell treatments