Software predicts stem cell fates

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A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researcher has developed a software program that predicts the fate of stem cells, bringing scientists closer to understanding the developmental process of cells.
7 R  C# p) f% u1 i    UWM assistant professor Andrew R. Cohen developed the program, which is described in a recent paper in Nature Methods. The software program uses mathematical techniques to track the movements of stem cells and predict what kinds of cells they will ultimately become based on those observations. Cohen and colleagues used the program to predict the fates of rat retinal progenitor cells (RPCs), which either duplicate or differentiate into a specific type of cell such as a photoreceptor.: U) I! ?3 K5 F3 G: @' g/ X
    Cohen’s group traced the activity of individual stem cells by viewing their movements every five minutes over a series of weeks and tracking their positions in a time-lapse film. According to the researchers, the program predicted with 99% accuracy whether the RPC would duplicate or create a specific cell type, and accurately determined the particular kind of cell a RPC would become 87% of the time.
, P! w0 v8 A, p5 y  J  a; M2 m$ y    “There were behavioral differences in cells based on what offspring they would eventually become,” Cohen told the Journal Sentinel. “Before they divided they produced subtle dynamic clues as to what they would ultimately produce.”
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    The paper, titled “Computational prediction of neural progenitor cell fates,” was published in the Feb. 7 issue of Nature Methods.
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From Biotechniques.com