‘Another set of fingers’
An interdisciplinary group of leading Harvard geneticists and stem cell researchers has found a new genetic aspect of cell reprogramming that may ultimately help in the fine-tuning of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) into specific cell types. The researchers, who have affiliations with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Harvard’s Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (SCRB), Children’s Hospital Boston, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), have identified a set of genetic elements never before known to be involved in cellular reprogramming. According to John Rinn, a corresponding author of the study who is affiliated with HSCI, SCRB, the Broad, and BIDMC, “this is the first time that this new type of gene has been implicated in the reprogramming process. In reprogramming it’s important to find as many routes to reprogramming as possible. This finding gives us another set of fingers to play...