Regenerative chemical turns muscle cells into stem cells

fish

found an interesting article on new stem cell research:

"La Jolla, CA. December 22, 2003—A group of researchers from The Scripps Research Institute has identified a small synthetic molecule that can induce a cell to undergo dedifferentiation—to move backwards developmentally from its current state to form its own precursor cell.

This compound, named reversine, causes cells which are normally programmed to form muscles to undergo reverse differentiation—retreat along their differentiation pathway and turn into precursor cells. These precursor cells are multipotent; that is, they have the potential to become different cell types. Thus, reversine represents a potentially useful tool for generating unlimited supply of such precursors, which subsequently can be converted to other cell types, such as bone or cartilage."

full article from Scripps Research Institute:
http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/122203.html

Monique

That's interesting, it is also known that some bloodcells are able to transform into braincells..