Exploring the developmental potential of adult mammalian somatic cells

In the traditional views an developmental biology, the process of a mammal from a zygote to an adult individual follows continuous changes of space an d time environments and is the result of different expressions of target ge nes. It has long been known that this process is irreversible and the termi nal differentiated adult cells, such as cardiac myocytes and neurons, will not divide and differentiate. But recent reports on the two hottest fields - cloning medicine and stem cell biology doubted these concepts. This may l ead to a further understanding of the potentiality of mammal development an d may provide great chances for commercial and clinical practice.