Source: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Date: December 24, 2008
Summary:
The mechanism whereby embryonic cells stop being flexible and turn into more mature cells that can develop into specific tissues has been discovered by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The discovery has significant consequences towards furthering research that will eventually make possible medical cell replacement therapy based on the use of embryonic cells. In a recent paper, published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, Professors Yehudit Bergman and Howard Cedar of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School have deciphered the mechanism whereby embryonic cells stop being flexible and turn into more mature cells that can differentiate into specific tissues. Bergman is the Morley Goldblatt professor of Cancer Research and Experimental Medicine and Cedar is the Harry and Helen L. Brenner professor of Molecular Biology at the Medical School.
