A few weeks ago we posted about University of Florida researchers chemically inducing bone marrow stem cells to become retinal cells. Now University of Wisconsin researchers have broadened the Florida result.
The University of Wisconsin retina project began by using embryonic (ES) stem cells, but incorporated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells as they became available. Ultimately, Wisconsin researchers were able to grow multiple types of retinal cells beginning with either ES or iPS cells, each of which provided a highly enriched population of very primitive cells with the potential to become retinal cells.
In normal human development, embryonic stem cells begin to differentiate into more specialized cell types about five days after fertilization. The retina develops from a group of cells that arise during the earliest stages of the developing nervous system. The Wisconsin team took cells from skin, created induced pluripotent stem cells, and then coaxed them into becoming retinal cell types.
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