First person – Ming-Hsuan Wen

TL;DR

This paper discusses how mammalian nuclei can be reprogrammed to a totipotent-like state using amphibian oocytes, with potential applications in human stem cell therapy.

Contribution

The study demonstrates deterministic nuclear reprogramming of mammalian nuclei to a totipotency-like state using amphibian meiotic oocytes.

Findings

Amphibian meiotic oocytes can reprogram mammalian nuclei to a totipotency-like state.

This reprogramming method could lead to safe and high-performing stem cells for human therapies.

Abstract

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Ming-Hsuan Wen is first author on ‘
Deterministic nuclear reprogramming of mammalian nuclei to a totipotency-like state by Amphibian meiotic oocytes for stem cell therapy in humans’, published in BiO. Ming-Hsuan conducted the research described in this article while a PhD student and postdoc in Prof. John Gurdon's lab at Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, Cambridge, UK. She is now a Founder and CEO of NUWA Therapeutics, spun-out of University of Cambridge and a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge in the lab of Prof. John Gurdon at Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, Cambridge, UK, investigating advancing the cellular reprogramming technology and providing safe and high-performing stem cells for novel therapies.

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