Thursday, April 30, 2015

Probing disorders of the nervous system using reprogramming approaches

Probing disorders of the nervous system using reprogramming approaches. Justin K Ichida, Evangelos Kiskinis, The EMBO Journal (2015) embj.201591267 DOI 10.15252/embj.201591267

Perhaps the seemingly biggest advantage of this approach—the ability to study disease in the genetic background of the patient—has created the biggest challenge, as genetic background contributes to high variability in the properties of the patient‐derived cells. This variability is a reality that neurologists have been facing for years, as often, two patients diagnosed with the same condition might present with very different clinical profiles. The technology of cellular reprogramming has brought this reality of clinical heterogeneity seen in patients from the bedside to the lab bench.

Open Access, full text Pdf