British scientists have come up with a technique to obtain naive pluripotent stem cells from human embryos. According to them, the technique may result into advances in regenerative medicine and boost research on disorders, including Down syndrome.

The technique has been explained in a study appeared in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The technique holds significance because current methods of deriving stem cells are tough, and the cells even then generally contain instructions to change into a particular cell type.

Naive pluripotent stem cells are the representatives of the earliest incarnation of the cells before they were distinguished into different types of cells present in different body parts and organs.

The researchers have two resources to develop pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells obtained from fertilized eggs not accepted by IVF procedures and skin cells that have been persuaded to become stem cells, both have been prepared to differentiate into various cell types.

Besides opening window to new research methods, like how Down syndrome occurs at the time of cell development, the scientists said that earlier stem cells may make it easier for them to create cells required for regeneration of harmed organs and tissues, which includes the ones that don’t regenerate effectively, like the brain, heart and pancreas.

In a press release, Ge Guo, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, said, “Until now, it hasn't been possible to isolate these naive stem cells, even though we've had the technology to do it in mice for 30 years -- leading some people to doubt it would be possible”.

Five days after egg fertilization, the embryonic cells join to create the blastocyst before its implantation in the uterus. It has three cell types, including one that develops into the placenta; another that makes the yolk sac and provides nutrients to the fetus; and a third kind that forms into the fetus.

The scientists have discovered a way to extract the cells that make the fetus, isolating them from others, so that they can’t communicate and differentiate any longer.