Wichita ? He was a bright kid from a humble background who loved to “mess around with experiments,” as he put it, at North High School in Wichita before he graduated in 1990.

And Chad Cowan is often the first person from Kansas that folks at Harvard University have ever met.

But now Cowan, who did his undergraduate work at Kansas University, is earning attention for something more substantial: a report published in Friday’s issue of Science magazine that outlines a significant advancement in stem cell research.

Cowan and his team of scientists at Harvard have fused skin cells with embryonic stem cells to create a hybrid cell. The new cell can be “reprogrammed” to become a different kind of cell.

“It’s just a fascinating phenomena,” Cowan said. “You can take adult cells and rewind the clock.”

Significant hurdles remain, he said, and it will likely be years before this breakthrough yields practical applications.

“It’s not yet ready for the showroom floor,” Cowan said.

But he says the technology does open the door to a dizzying array of possibilities:

¢ Cells could be programmed to produce insulin, which could benefit diabetics.

¢ They could be used to regenerate nerves, which could help paralyzed people walk again.

¢ They could be used to stave off degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

¢ Scientists can use this breakthrough to study the impact on cells of various degenerative conditions and determine when and how the deterioration could be prevented or delayed.

¢ Rejection, a primary obstacle for organ transplants, could be eliminated by using the recipient’s own DNA in the transplant, Cowan said.

Before any of that can happen, scientists will have to figure out how to eliminate one of the two sets of DNA in the hybrid cell. But Cowan is not discouraged.

“It’s an exciting time to be in science,” he said. “How cells function – that’s what we’re asking now. How does a cell know it’s a skin cell versus an early embryonic cell versus a nerve cell?”

The breakthrough has political significance as well, because it could provide a way to conduct stem cell research without using human embryos. It is already being described by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and others who view the destruction of embryos as terminating human life.

“You wouldn’t ever have to create new embryos to destroy for use,” Cowan said. “For us, it’s a nice offshoot that it might solve some of the ethical quandaries” of stem cell research.

Worry about opponents

But Cowan concedes he’s worried this result could be used as ammunition to halt stem cell research that relies on embryos. The embryos typically have been cloned or discarded from fertility clinics. As part of the research, the embryos are hollowed out and used to create stem cell lines.

“In no way should we slow down the research that’s being done now,” Cowan said.

Cowan, 33, is working with a team of scientists in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, a long way from North High.

But what he’s doing is little surprise to his family and teachers in Wichita.

“What an amazing young man,” said Janice Crowley, who was Cowan’s chemistry teacher at North and is now at Wichita Collegiate School.

Cowan credits teachers such as Crowley, debate teacher Linda Douglas and biology teacher Allan Volkmann for inspiring him. But Crowley said the accolades should go to Cowan and his mother, Linda Murphy, who raised four children pretty much on her own.

“We didn’t have a lot of money, and we did the best we could,” said Tonya Witherspoon, Cowan’s older sister, who teaches at Wichita State University.

Linda Murphy said she’s proud of what her son has done and pleased that it has earned international attention.

“Frequently, research can take years and you don’t even get results that are publishable,” she said.

While he was working on the stem cell research, Crowley said, Cowan would tell people he was working on “a cure for Superman.” The hope was to regenerate nerve cells that would allow paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve to walk again.

Although Reeve died last October, the breakthrough achieved by Cowan and his Harvard team continues to generate hope even among those who do not understand the science.

“It’s a really exciting time to be working here,” Cowan said. “The ideas capture almost everyone’s imagination.”