Jan 29, 2014 11:11 AM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Scientists took a large step forward in the field of stem cells, reverting an adult cell to its embryonic state in less than 30 minutes by treating it with acid.

With re-grown stem cells, scientists can personalize treatments based on the patient, disease and a number of other factors. Scientists can cure diseases by reverting cells back to their embryonic state and manipulating them to be any kind of cell in the body, even a healthy version of the same one.

According to the Telegraph, stem cell experts are excited about the new study, published online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"Remarkably, instead of triggering cell death or tumour growth as might be expected, a new cell state emerges that exhibits and unprecedented potential for differentiation into every possible cell type," Austin Smith, of Cambridge University, wrote in an accompanying editorial piece for Nature.

With stem cells, the possibilities for curing diseases are seemingly endless. They may be used to create skin graphs, new blood vessel growth and regenerate failing organs. Medical problems like Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis would also become curable.

"(This) approach in the mouse is the most simple, lowest cost and quickest method to generate pluripotent cells from mature cells," Chris Mason, chair of the University College London's regenerative medicine bioprocessing department, told the Telegraph. "If it works in man, this could be the game changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patient's own cells as starting material - the age of personalized medicine would have finally arrived."

The Medical Research Council's Robin Lovell-Badge called the work "remarkable" and said further research will only bring more revelations on the matter.

He told BBC News, "It is going to be a while before the nature of these cells are understood, and whether they might prove to be useful for developing therapies, but the really intriguing thing to discover will be the mechanism underlying how a low pH shock triggers reprogramming - and why it does not happen when we eat lemon or vinegar or drink cola?"

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