Last year, biologists found that precursor cells in the brain can act just like bone marrow and give rise to red and white blood cells (SN: 1/23/99, p. 54: http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc99/1_23_99/fob5.htm). In a reversal of that trick, investigators now report that they can efficiently transform human bone marrow into what appear to be nerve cells, or neurons.
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