Stem Cell Secrets

Ever wondered how we develop from a cluster of cells into the living and breathing, unique and separate, human beings that we are? Well, stem cells have a lot to answer for. Stem cell differentiation describes a process in early foetal development, where a generic (undifferentiated) cell develops into a specific type of cell. While it’s known that this process is governed within the cell’s nucleus, the exact mechanisms for the reprogramming have remained unknown. Now, scientists reveal the protein, called histone 3.3 (stained red in the cells pictured), as one of the essential factors involved in switching the cell nuclei into a pluripotent state that harnesses the potential to differentiate into almost any cell in the body.

Written by Yalda Javadi

Yalda Javadi

Writer

Yalda recently hung up her lab coat to venture into the exciting world of science communication. She’s currently the Senior Grant Communications Officer at Great Ormond Street Hospital and runs her own science and art magazine.

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• Image by Charles David Allis and colleagues
• The Rockefeller University, USA
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in PNAS, April 2014