Making Insulin: Pancreatic cells that have been reprogrammed to turn into insulin-¬producing beta cells, the cell type lost in type 1 diabetes, produce the growth factor VEGF (blue) and insulin (red and pink). Cell nuclei are marked in green.
Credit: Nature, Copyright 2008
New publications, experiments and breakthroughs in biotechnology--and what they mean.
Cell Conversions
A revolutionary technique converts one type of adult cell into another.
Source: "In vivo reprogramming of adult pancreatic exocrine cells to beta-cells"
Douglas Melton et al.
Nature,published online August 27, 2008
Results: By activating a specific set of genes in mice, scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute converted a common type of pancreatic cell into a rarer, insulin-producing one. The research is the first to show that one type of fully formed adult cell can be directly converted into another type.
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