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Article: DNA 'tattoos' link adult, daughter stem cells in planarians.
- Article from:
- Biotech Week
- Article date:
- September 24, 2008
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Unlike some parents, adult stem cells don't seem to mind when their daughters get a tattoo. In fact, they're willing to pass them along (see also University of Utah Health Sciences).
Using the molecular equivalent of a tattoo on DNA that adult stem cells (ASC) pass to their "daughter" cells in combination with gene expression profiles, University of Utah researchers have identified two early steps in adult stem cell differentiationuthe process that determines whether cells will form muscle, neurons, skin, etc., in people and animals.
The U of U researchers, led by Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology and anatomy, identified 259 ...