Biology News

New research has found that adult stem cells can change their epigenome to generate new organs. The genome of every single cell is the same regardless of its function or appearance.Therefor the activity of the tissues and organs and their disorders in complex diseases can't be fully explained by the genome. Epigenetics is the chemical changes in our genetic material and their regulatory proteins.The epigenome is all the epigenetic marks of a living being.

Adult stem cells have the potential to regenerate damaged organs. Using adult stem cells gets rid of the ethical risks of using embryonic stem cells. In this study scientists isolated stem cells from body fat and transformed them into muscle and bone cells. The study shows that the epigenome of the cells made by the experiment closely resemble real skeletal and muscle cells, however they are not identical.

This study has found that the use of epigenetics in determining the degree of maturity and biosecurity of different tissues used in regenerative medicine against different diseases is useful. For more information go to
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2012/10/02/adult_stem_cells_change_their_epigenome_to_generate_new_organs.htmlutm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29