In embryonic stem cells, genes link pluripotency and ease of self-destruction

Source: GEN

Gene networks in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been found to serve two purposes at once. They maintain pluripotency, and they keep apoptosis, or programmed cell death, on a hair trigger. This discovery, from a study led by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School (HMS), suggests that faulty embryonic stem cells have a built-in mechanism to ensure that they are destroyed before they can compromise the functioning of future cells and tissues.

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