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Nature 461, 891-892 (15 October 2009) | doi:10.1038/461891a; Published online 14 October 2009

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Stem cells: A fateful age gap

Tim Stearns1

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When a stem cell divides, one sister cell differentiates and the other retains its stem-cell identity. Differences in the age of an organelle — the centriole — inherited at cell division may determine these differing fates.

One of the enduring mysteries of biology is how two genetically identical sister cells become different from each other after cell division. Stem cells are particularly interesting in this respect because they can divide so that one of the two resulting cells remains an undifferentiated stem cell while the other becomes a differentiated cell type.

  1. Tim Stearns is in the Department of Biology, Stanford University, and the Department of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University, California 94305, USA.
    Email: stearns@stanford.edu

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