Totipotency, the ability of early embryonic cells to generate a complete adult organism as well as extraembryonic tissue, is a fleeting property found only in very early embryonic cells. A breakthrough study now shows that inhibition of DNA replication–linked nucleosome assembly causes embryonic stem cells to resemble totipotent cells. Notably, inhibition of chromatin assembly stimulates reprogramming during somatic-cell nuclear transfer experiments.
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Kaufman, P. Want reprogramming? Cut back on the chromatin assembly!. Nat Struct Mol Biol 22, 648–650 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.3081
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.3081