Duanqing Pei and colleagues at the South China Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences found that adding vitamin C to cell cultures boosts the transition of adult cells into a stem cell-like state.

The problem in creating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is that researchers harvest adult cells and then infect them with retroviruses to induce pluripotency. However the net yield from this process if unsatisfactory and researchers have not been able to harvest sufficient quantity of stem cells using this process.

Dr Pei said the disheartening results almost made them give up. But by adding vitamin C to the cell cultures, researchers were able to harvest sufficient amount of IPSC.

''Our results highlight a simple way to improve iPSC generation and provide additional insight into the mechanistic basis of reprogramming," he said in a released statement. "It is also of interest that a vitamin with long-suspected anti-aging effects has such a potent influence on reprogramming, which can be considered a reversal of the aging process at the cellular level. It is likely that our work may stimulate further research in this area as well."

The details of the study were published online on December 24 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Ever since it was discovered that human skin cells could be turned into stem cells, researchers have been working hard to refine the process and make it more efficient. As the above study indicates, adding vitamin C to the cells cultures may be the best way to do this.