Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: July 31, 2008
Summary:
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that mature, specialized cells naturally regress to serve as a kind of de facto stem cell during the fruit-fly life cycle. The surprising discovery counters the common belief that the ability to form new cell types or tissues wanes as a cell becomes more specialized. Harnessing this type of developmental backtracking in adult human cells would allow researchers to explore new avenues for treating many human diseases. The research is published online Aug. 1 in Science Express.
