McMaster discovery makes top 10 of 2014

A breakthrough discovery by McMaster scientist Mick Bhatia has been selected as one of the Canadian Cancer Society’s (CCS) top 10 research stories of 2014.

Bhatia and his team found that human stem cells made from adult donor cells remembered what cell types they came from and that when reprogrammed in the lab, they preferentially reverted to their original cell type.

This significant finding, published in December in the prestigious science journal Nature Communications, will be used to further drug development at McMaster, and potentially improve transplants using human stem cell sources.

Bhatia is director of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Stem Cell Biology and he is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

The CCS created the top 10 list of cancer research achievements for 2014 to highlight the highest-impact research funded, in full or in part, by the CCS, and to bring attention to the breadth of research supported by its donors.

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A breakthrough discovery by McMaster scientist Mick Bhatia has been selected as one of the Canadian Cancer Society’s (CCS) <a href="http://www.cancer.ca/en/about-us/for-media/media-releases/national/2014/top-10-canadian-cancer-society-funded-research-of-2014/?region=on">top 10 research stories of 2014</a>.

Bhatia and his team found that human stem cells made from adult donor cells remembered what cell types they came from and that when reprogrammed in the lab, they preferentially reverted to their original cell type.

This significant finding, published in December in the prestigious science journal <em>Nature Communications</em>, will be used to further drug development at McMaster, and potentially improve transplants using human stem cell sources.

Bhatia is director of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Stem Cell Biology and he is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.

The CCS created the top 10 list of cancer research achievements for 2014 to highlight the highest-impact research funded, in full or in part, by the CCS, and to bring attention to the breadth of research supported by its donors.

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