How do you make a better stem cell? One that can repair damaged tissue? Researchers at Johns Hopkins bathed adult human cells in a cocktail of nutrients and chemicals that dial back the biological hands of time to a state when cells are the most “naive,” or capable of developing into any specialized cell. In this image, green-dyed naive stem cells are working to repair blood vessels (red) in the retina of a mouse bred to have diabetic retinopathy.

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