In his lab, Eric Ahrens works on revolutionizing how we see the brain, literally. Scientists have been unable to track the paths of neural stem cells in vivo-an obstacle to the field of regenerative medicine. Ahrens, a Carnegie Mellon biological sciences professor, and post-doctoral student Bistra Iordanova are taking a novel approach: they've introduced an engineered "reporter gene" into the DNA of stem cells in a rat brain. The reporter magnetizes the cells and their future daughter cells, allowing an MRI to trace their development. Their research has appeared in the journal NeuroImage and could help to develop therapies for spinal cord trauma, neurological diseases, and cancer.
-Danielle Commisso (DC'06)
