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Stem cells back on Parliament’s agenda

Yesterday, for the first time in seven years, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health heard testimony on the current status of stem cell research in Canada. Although the topics covered by MPs during the Committee hearings did not seem to reflect any...

RNA-induction: A new method for iPS cell production

The reprogramming of differentiated adult cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is accomplished by the expression of a small number of key genes. This is typically done by introducing DNA either by transfection or with viral vectors. Current methods,...

Ghosts of stem cells past

One of the coolest breakthroughs of the last five years is the ability to reprogram adult, differentiated cells into pluripotent cells, effectively allowing us to change one cell type into virtually any other. Reprogramming is achieved by expression of a set of genes...

Model behaviour

Buried deep within our bony skulls and spinal columns, and separated from our blood by an infallible barrier, our neurons are, I would argue, the most protected cells in our bodies. This is a good thing for obvious reasons. This is a bad thing, however, for scientists...