Research Unit Leader: Haruko Obokata (Ph.D.)

Ms. Haruko Obokata is becoming the person who will take the brunt of the criticism over shabby science or worse...

RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology

Laboratory for Cellular Reprogramming

Research Unit Leader: Haruko Obokata (Ph.D.)

All organisms possess instincts to survive exposures to external stresses by adapting to their environment and, to some degree, regenerating injured tissues or organs. 

Thus, it is not surprising to observe dramatic cellular plasticity after exposure to significant external stresses, such as an injury. 

In both vertebrates and plants, cellular reprogramming can be induced by exposure to external stimuli. 

These facts suggest that organisms which possess a strong regenerative power educe great plasticity when exposed to external stresses and generate "stem cells" from somatic cells.

Given these observations, true stemness seems to be linked to cellular plasticity. 

The main goal of our research is to elucidate the relationship between "stemness" and "cellular plasticity".

Read more: http://www.riken.jp/en/research/labs/cdb/cdsp/cell_reprogram/