Cellular Reprogramming In Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy and other Myelin Disorders.

Researchers have successfully converted fibroblasts (a structural cell) into oligodendrocytes which could regenerate new myelin coatings around nerves. This treatment can be used in myelin related disorders such as multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.

Cellular Reprogramming is a technique that allows the conversion of one type of cell into another. Although it shares a similar concept with stem cell technolgy, unlike stem cell therapy, cellular reprogramming utilizes direct manipulation of the cell at a genetic level to convert it into another type of cell.

Stem cells naturally differentiate into another type of cell. In 2012, Doctor Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) through cellular reprogramming. iPS cells are pluripotent stem cells that are artificially derived from normal cells.