Cell potency is a general term which describes a stem cell's ability to differentiate into different cell types.[1][2] The more cell types a stem cell can differentiate into, the greater its potency. Potency is also described as the gene activation potential within a cell which like a continuum begins with totipotency to designate a cell with the most differentiation potential, pluripotency, multipotency, oligopotency and finally unipotency. Potency is taken from the Latin term "potents" which means "having power."
We’re only in the early days of 3-D printing, but even now the breakthroughs made using such technology are most impressive like the genuine possibility of printing spare parts in space for the ISS, creating objects of great details on the nanoscale or even artificial muscles made using a 3-D printer. What’s fabulous though is [...]
A group of researchers at MIT have devised a new method for infiltrating cells with large molecules such as nanoparticles or proteins that is a lot more non-intrusive and doesn’t damage the cell. Imaging target cells or growing more stable stem cells might thus be possible with this method. Every cell has a membrane, which [...]
The StemBANCC project, developed as a joint effort between the European Union and Europe’s pharmaceutical industry, is set to culture 1,500 pluripotent stem cell lines derived from the cells of diseased individuals like Alzheimer’s patients is currently planned. Using this massive database, researchers will be able to achieve much smoother and faster drug screening process in order to [...]
Some of the human waste we flush out each day could become valuable research material – a potent source of brain cells to analyze, something extremely important for neurodegenerative diseases studies. The technique, described in Nature Methods doesn’t involve embryonic stem cells, which have serious drawbacks when transplanted such as the risk of developing tumours. [...]
Popular scientific consensus says that DNA code is identical in every cell of our bodies. A new study from Yale University that could pose extreme far reaching consequences in the field tested a highly controversial hypothesis that claimed genetic variations are widespread through out the body. The researchers found that this claim is true. For [...]
Kyoto University researchers have produced normal, healthy mouse pups after inseminating a foster mother with eggs and sperm derived from stem cells, exclusively grown in a petri dish. This remarkable accomplishment came after last year scientists produced mouse pups from stem cell grown sperm. Their research might lead to the development of novel techniques through [...]
In an extraordinary feat of science, Japanese scientists have used induced stem cells to grow into a liver-like tissue in a dish. The researchers have a long way ahead of them before they can grow livers safe for human transplants, which is the main goal, however even at its current stage, the tissue grown by the [...]
Tue, Feb 5, 2013
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