A Californian team say they have managed to convert human skin cells directly into functioning brain cells.
The scientists used genetically modified viruses to introduce four different "transcription factors" into foetal skin cells. These transcription factors play a role in the "reading" of DNA and the encoding of proteins within the cell.
They found the introduction of these four transcription factors had the effect of switching a small portion of the skin cells into cells which functioned like neurons.
"It was known that it was possible to change a specialised cell back into a stem cell, what's called an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS), but it was not known whether a specialised cell could be pushed into another direction, other than backwards."
The technique might one day also be used to create new brain cells which could be transplanted into patients with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's.
The advantage of these neurons is that its created from the patient's own skin, these cells would be an exact match for the patient, although there would be many obstacles to overcome, not least the challenge of producing enough of the right type of brain cells.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13567321)
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