Man receives someone else's reprogrammed stem cells 
2 April 2017 Man receives someone else's reprogrammed stem cells Getty Images/iStockphoto The concept of using stem cells for transplants just became a truly practical reality: a Japanese man with age-related macular degeneration has received the first transplant of stem cells from another human donor. Doctors repurposed the donor's skin cells by turning them into induced pluripotent stem cells (that is, forced into a state where they can become many kinds of cells) that then became retinal cells. If all goes according to plan with the multi-step procedure, these fresh cells will halt the degeneration and preserve the patient's remaining eyesight. This isn't the first time that human stem cells have been used. There was another macular degeneration treatment in 2014. However, the prior example revolved around taking samples from the patient's own skin. That's risky when they may be dealing with genetic flaws that could hinder the treatment. So long as the ne...