Introduction

CellNet: Mapping cell fate conversion

CellNet: Mapping cell fate conversion

CellNet Mapping stem cell fate transitions
CellNet maps an engineered cell’s possible tissue destinations, from its point of origin to the end of the line—as in the Boston subway system. (Samantha Morris, Ph.D./Boston Children’s Hospital)

The differentiation of engineered stem cells may be imagined as a subway journey, where the genetic equivalents of missing a transfer or getting off at the wrong stop can take your stem cells far off course.

Created by scientists from Boston Children’s Hospital, the Wyss Institute, and Boston University, CellNet, is a computer algorithm, a network biology tool, that compares the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) of engineered cells with those of real-life counterpart cells in the body.

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