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In an episode of Adventures in AI, Acorn Biolabs founder Drew Taylor discussed how his company applies artificial intelligence to regenerative medicine, including using image analysis to predict stem cell performance and designing biologically tailored treatment plans. The conversation also touched on societal and financial implications of extended human lifespans.
Researchers at University Hospital Bonn and the University of Bonn used a virus to deliver two transcription factors, directly converting red blood cell precursors into neural stem cells without passing through a pluripotent stage. Using DNA methylation and RNA sequencing to track changes, they found the converted cells' epigenetic age fell dramatically over 50 to 100 days, reaching roughly 5 percent of the donor's original age. The team published the findings in the journal Aging Cell.
MIT researchers led by Omer Yilmaz found that mice fed a ketogenic diet developed more tumors in the small intestine than those on a control diet, even as the same diet suppressed colon tumor growth. The team traced the small intestine effect to fatty acid oxidation, a metabolic pathway that spurs intestinal stem cells to multiply faster, and found that ketone bodies themselves appeared uninvolved in either outcome.
Researchers used multiple transgenic mouse models, including four core genotype (FCG) mice that separate chromosomal sex from gonadal sex, to study epidermal stem cells. By combining lineage tracing tools with castration, ovariectomy and hormone replacement experiments, they examined how sex affects stem cell dynamics in skin.
Researchers generated chemically induced totipotent-like (ciToti) stem cell structures and tracked their single-cell transcriptomes across multiple stages, comparing them to natural mouse blastocysts at E3.5 and E4.5. The analysis identified progenitor and intermediate cell populations transitioning toward epiblast, trophectoderm and primitive endoderm lineages, mapping their developmental trajectories using pseudotime and distance-based methods.
Researchers report that alveolar stem cells, previously known mainly for producing gas-exchange cells in the lungs, also play a role in repairing damaged airway tissue. The finding expands the understood function of these cells beyond their traditional role in the alveoli.
Researchers using multiple genetically engineered mouse lines found that alveolar type 2 stem cells, normally responsible for regenerating lung air sacs, can transdifferentiate into cells that regenerate the bronchiolar airways after injury. The team used lineage-tracing and gene-deletion techniques in mice to track this cell-fate switch and identify the Notch signaling pathway as a key regulator of the process.
Researchers have successfully grafted human-derived brain organoids into the brains of mice lacking a cortex, aiming to overcome limitations of traditional organoid models. This approach could enable more advanced studies of human brain development and disease within a living organism. The study was published in Nature by Kaganovsky et al. in 2026.
Researchers used genetically engineered mice lacking Treg cells to study autoimmune hair loss, finding that interferon signaling and the AIM2 inflammasome pathway in skin cells and dendritic cells drive hair follicle destruction. Deleting interferon receptors or the Aim2 gene in keratinocytes or cDC1 dendritic cells altered CD8+ T-cell infiltration and hair follicle loss, indicating these pathways are required for disease progression.
Stanford School of Medicine researchers report that the human brain forms from two separate types of stem cells rather than one uniform source. One lineage, marked by the Otx2 gene, produces the midbrain and forebrain responsible for higher-order thinking and speech, while a distinct stem cell type gives rise to the hindbrain, which governs basic functions like heartbeat and breathing. Researcher Kyle Loh says this finding allows scientists to grow hindbrain neurons in a lab dish for the first time.
A Nature Index 2026 feature on regenerative medicine reviews progress in cell therapy and tissue engineering, including the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to pursue treatments for autoimmune diseases, Parkinson's disease and heart failure. It also notes clinical trials using stem-cell transplants to replace insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes have shown some success.
Researchers led by immunologist Hongkui Deng at Peking University transplanted lab-grown pancreatic islet cells, derived from a patient's own reprogrammed fat cells, into a young woman with type 1 diabetes. Nearly three years after the 2024 procedure, she no longer requires insulin injections and reports stable blood-sugar levels.