Scientists have made brain cells from human pee. When a person
urinates, skin shells are routinely shed from the lining in the
kidney, and it's these cells that the researchers reprogrammed
into stem cells, which can turn into any type of cell in the
body. In this case, they transformed the cells into neurons, or
brain cells. The new research, published Sunday (Dec. 9) in the
journal Nature Methods, could one day provide a quicker way to
make brain cells that are unique to an individual, Nature News
reported. And because the technique relies on urine, which is
much easier to get than blood, it could be easier to extract
such cells from almost any patient, including children, Marc
Lalande, a researcher at the University of Connecticut Health
Center told Nature News. "It's easier to get a child to give a
urine sample than to prick them for blood," Lalande said. For
years, scientists have been working on ways to turn ordinary
cells into stem cells. Researchers have reprogrammed testicle
stem cells to make insuli