WHAT ARE STEM CELLS: YAMANAKA THOMPSON TURNED SKIN CELLS INTO STEM CELLS WHY ITS A BIG DEAL

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Stem cells are cells that can turn into any cell in the body. You may be surprised to hear that stem cells have been used to replace tissue in the body for many years. Bone marrow stem cells are used to treat leukemia,for example. The problem is that the bone marrow cells pretty much form only blood tissues.












But what if you had stem cells that could turn into any tissue in the body? Stem cell scientists in Wisconsin and Japan (like modern day alchemists) have inserted four genes into skin cells and turned them into what seem to be stem cells. It's almost a miracle!


Most adult cells are differentiated (they have become specialized). For example a brain cell is specialized for brain function. A skin cell for skin function and so on. Most cells in adults are specialized. When an embryo is just conceived the first few cells have the potential to develop into anything in the body. But as growth continues groups of cells diverge onto different pathways and can't go back (or so we thought).Why is this a big deal? Well for now it may make disease research easier to do. But what if you could make eye or heart stem cells to get tissue repair and replacement?

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Here are 2 videos explaining what Yamanaka and Thompson did. And a third video, Everything You Wanted to Know About Stem Cells

Yamanka Lab at Kyoto University Research Page



Japanese Stem Cell Breakthrough How Yamanaka Made Skin Cells into Stem Cells Click the arrow

Stem Cell Basics

Pluripotency Without Tumors?





Wisconsin Stem Cell Story Click the arrow






Everything You Wanted to Know About Stem Cells Click the arrow