Turbo loader for cell reset

Max Planck scientists have discovered a mechanism by which reprogramming of normal body cells goes off more easily and effectively

For some time past, scientists can – by introducing genes or protein factors - turn normal body cells into jacks-of-all-trades cells. Yet the yield of this process is so far very low: only about one of ten thousand skin cells is being reprogrammed. A team of Hans Schöler’s of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster has now discovered a molecular machine in mouse cells that makes the ‘reset’ process more efficient. If these most recent results can be transferred to human cells, this could represent a further important step on the way to patients’ own stem cells. (Cell, June 11, 2010)