For the first time, researchers have created functional neurons directly from skin cells. Through a process termed direct reprogramming, skin cells from patients with Alzheimer's disease have been reprogrammed and prompted into becoming neurons without first having to be converted to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). The direct reprogramming process produces forebrain neurons that seem to be the same as ordinary neurons in both gene expression and the ability to send and receive electrical impulses.

According to Columbia University Medical Center researcher Dr. Asa Abeliovich, "Direct reprogramming is fundamentally different from making neurons with iPS technologies. Using direct reprogramming, you could, in theory, take someone's skin cells and in a couple of weeks have fully functional neurons ready for replacement cell therapy." The researchers caution however, that while this method of creating neurons shows great potential as a means for producing replacement cells, clinical applications are not imminent. The research is still in the preliminary stages.
