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Turning embryonic stem cells into another stem cell type required for fetal development


October 28, 2014

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from an embryo prior to its implantation in the uterine wall are well studied. They represent a way of understanding embryonic and fetal development, which also gives us valuable insight used in the creation regenerative medicine therapeutics. But there are other critical cells of the embryo that are far less understood – extraembryonic endoderm stem cells. Dr. Bill Stanford published a paper this week in Cell Reports that shows how to convert embryonic stem cells into these extraembryonic endoderm stem cells. The discovery from the Stanford lab identifies the regulators of this conversion, which will improve our understanding of early embryonic development and causes of miscarriage.

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The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the university’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. OHRI includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease.

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