Friday, January 29, 2010

Skin Cells Turned Into Brain Cells

Image: Cellular transformation: A cocktail of three genes can transform skin cells into neurons (shown here in red). Credit: Thomas Vierbuchen

From Technology Review:

A simple approach shows that cells might be more flexible than once thought.

Skin cells called fibroblasts can be transformed into neurons quickly and efficiently with just a few genetic tweaks, according to new research. The surprisingly simple conversion, which doesn't require the cells to be returned to an embryonic state, suggests that differentiated adult cells are much more flexible than previously thought.

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