Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: 13 November 2008
Summary:
A class of miniscule molecules called microRNAs has become a major focus of biomedical research. Now, UCSF scientists have identified multiple members of this class that enable embryonic stem cells to divide, and thus proliferate, much more rapidly than the mature, or specialized, cells of the adult body. The finding offers insight into a critical aspect of normal embryonic development -- the capacity of the early embryo to grow rapidly from a single fertilized cell to an entire embryo. It also suggests, the researcher say, that when these microRNAs function inappropriately they likely play a role in cancer.
