“…In a recent paper [researchers] have deciphered the mechanism whereby embryonic cells stop being flexible and turn into more mature cells that can differentiate into specific tissues…They found in their experiments, using embryos from laboratory mice and cells that grow in culture, that this entire process is actually controlled by a single gene, called G9a, which itself is capable of directing a whole program of changes that involves turning off a large set of genes so that they remain locked for the entire lifetime of the organism, thereby unable to activate any further cell flexibility…with the new information discovered by [researchers], the molecular program that is responsible for turning off cell flexibility has been identified, and this may clear the way towards developing new approaches to program cells in a controlled and specific manner.” Full Slice

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