Large-scale production of living brain cells enables entirely new research
After performing a biopsy on the patient, the skin cells are transformed into brain cells that effectively imitate the disease and the age of the patient . The fact that the cells can now be produced in large quantities enables researchers to carry out a series of experiments that were previously not possible. A few years ago, Malin Parmar's research team was one of the first in the world to convert human skin cells directly into brain cells without passing the stem cell state. The discovery shocked the researchers and was perceived as almost impossible. The team is now approaching a point where the discovery is about to bear fruit on a wide scale. By following a new method that involves slightly changing the genetic code that triggers cell conversion, the researchers were able to multiply the production of disease-specific brain cells. "Primarily, we inhibited a protein, REST, involved in establishing identity in cells that are not nerve cells. After limiting this prot...