In  a feat of biological prestidigitation likely to turn the field of regenerative medicine on its head, Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) co-director Doug Melton and post doctoral fellow Qiao "Joe" Zhou report having achieved what has long been a dream and ultimate goal of developmental biologists – directly turning one type of fully formed adult cell into another type of adult cell.

 

The Melton team reports in the online edition of the journal Nature that, using a technique it is calling "direct reprogramming," the team is able to turn mouse exocrine cells, which make up about 95 percent of the pancreas, into precious and rare insulin-producing beta cells. These beta cells, which comprise about one percent of the pancreas, are the cells that die off in Type I diabetes.

 

 

 

Source: Harvard University