How a Silly Putty Ingredient Could Advance Stem Cell Therapies

University of Michigan researchers have found that mechanical forces in the environment of human embryonic stem cells influences how they differentiate, or morph into the body’s different cell types. To arrive at the findings, they cultured the stem cells on ultrafine carpets made of microscopic posts of a key ingredient in Silly Putty. Image credit: Ye Tao, Rose Anderson, Yubing Sun, and Jianping Fu