Induced Neural Stem Cells: Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2010) — The great promise of induced pluripotent stem cells is that the all-purpose cells seem capable of performing all the same tricks as embryonic stem cells, but without the controversy.

However, a new study published Feb. 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences comparing the ability of induced cells and embryonic cells to morph into the cells of the brain has found that induced cells -- even those free of the genetic factors used to program their all-purpose qualities -- differentiate less efficiently and faithfully than their embryonic counterparts.

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