Who gives stem cells their marching orders?

Source: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Posted: September 5, 2006

Summary:

Researchers from the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) have shown that a single gene involved in embryonic development is responsible for two seemingly contradictory activities -- maintaining stem cells after the embryo has implanted in the mother’s uterus, and later providing cues to direct their differentiation in a coordinated fashion when the time is ripe.