Skin Cells Transformed Directly Into Neurons

In a regenerative medicine breakthrough, Marius Wernig, from Stanford University (California, USA), and colleagues have transformed ordinary mouse skin cells directly into neurons, bypassing the need for stem cells.  The team utilized three genes. actively and directly inducing one cell type to become a completely different cell type and yielding a new category of cells known as “induced neuronal cells.”   As fully functional neurons, the researchers report: “These induced neuronal (iN) cells express multiple neuron-specific proteins, generate action potentials and form functional synapses.”