Stem Cell Differentiation Triggered with Light
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2015 — Blue light can trigger the transformation of embryonic stem cells into neurons. Based on optogenetics techniques, the discovery could be a first step toward complex tissue engineering using light, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. "There's lots of promise that we can do these miraculous things like tissue repair or even growing new organs," said faculty fellow Dr. Matthew Thomson, "but in practice, manipulating stem cells has been notoriously