Jack Lucentini | Aug 29, 2004 | 3 min read
SHAPING A COMMITMENT:© 2004 Cell PressBrightfield images of hMSCs plated onto small 1,024 μm2 or large 10,000 μm2 fibronectin islands after 1 week in growth or mixed media. Lipids stain red, alkaline phosphatase stains blue. Scale bar = 50 μm. (From R. McBeath et al., Dev Cell, 6:483–95, 2004)Researchers have tried for years to make stem cells differentiate into specific cell types. This work usually involves bathing the cells in molecular signals that affect their fate