THE SCIENCE

The origins of the regenerative technique stem from the 1990s, when researchers developed a method of turning an adult mammarygland cell taken from a sheep into an embryo – leading to the creation of Dolly the cloned sheep.

But a new improved method, called IPS, involved adding chemicals to adult cells for around 50 days. This resulted in genetic changes that turned the adult cells into stem cells.

In both the Dolly and IPS techniques, the stem cells created the need to be regrown into the cells and tissues the patient requires. This has proved difficult, and, despite decades of effort, the use of stem cells to treat diseases is currently extremely limited.

New research used the IPS technique on 53-year-old skin cells, and scientists were astonished to find that the cells had not turned into embryonic stem cells – but had rejuvenated into skin cells that looked and behaved as if they came from a 23-year old.