by Technion – Israel Institute of Technology – MedicalXpress
Researchers at Technion have uncovered a surprising natural mechanism through which the body repairs itself: Contrary to what was previously believed, mature, aged cells retain an extraordinary ability to “turn back time” and revert to active stem cells that regenerate damaged tissue.
The discovery, published in Nature Communications, challenges the prevailing view that the loss of stem cells in a tissue is an irreversible process that inevitably leads to tissue collapse and disease. According to this view, significant regeneration of damaged tissue requires transplantation of external cells. The Technion researchers show that this is not entirely accurate and that the body itself can activate an internal “reprogramming” mechanism for repair.
