Two new scientific breakthroughs could mean that the era of stem cells without the use of eggs - therefore dodging any ethical issues - is approaching.

In the first stemcell study, Kyoto University's Shinya Yaimanaka was able to create stem cells from a middle-aged woman's cheek cells. Meanwhile, the University of Wisconsin's James Thomson generated the cells from a newborn baby's foreskin cells. As Time notes, "the achievements completely reset the boundaries of the stem cell debate, because both groups generated cells that looked and acted like embryonic stem cells, but without the need for eggs, embryos or ethical quandaries about where the cells came from."

"I think this is the future of stem cell research," biologist John Gearhart, who first discovered human fetal embryonic stem cells, told the magazine. "It's absolutely terrific."

The hope here is that scientists will be able to treat human diseases by generating stem cells specific to each patient, without having to rely on eggs or embryos. Yet another recent breakthrough - in which scientists were able to generate embryonic stem cells from monkeys using a complex process called nuclear transfer - has been another important leap. Now, researchers are looking to a process called direct reprogramming, in which they can "turn back the clock" by using genes to stop cells from aging.

As promising as these developments may be, the ethically pesky embryonic stem cell research will in the meantime continue as a means to treat diseases - at least until the new alternatives are definitively proven to be effective and safe. For the time being, this exciting new stem cell research has yet to transition from the lab to patient use.

"Until this method produces cells that have fully normal behavior, and normal physiological behavior, we cannot eliminate any avenue of research," says Dr. Douglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.