Tracking stem cell reprogramming: Biologists reveal genes key to development of pluripotency, in single cells
Thursday, September 13, 2012 - 13:40
in Biology & Nature
Several years ago, biologists discovered that regular body cells can be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells -- cells with the ability to become any other type of cell. Such cells hold great promise for treating many human diseases. These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are usually created by genetically modifying cells to overexpress four genes that make them revert to an immature, embryonic state. However, the procedure works in only a small percentage of cells. Now, new genetic markers identified by researchers at MIT and the Whitehead Institute could help make that process more efficient, allowing scientists to predict which treated cells will successfully become pluripotent.