Scientists use RNA to reprogram one cell type into another
Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 13:49
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- For the past decade, researchers have tried to tweak cells at the gene and nucleus level to reprogram their identity. Now, working on the idea that the signature of a cell is defined by molecules called messenger RNAs, which contain the chemical blueprint for how to make a protein, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering have found another way to change one cell type into another.