Unlocking Regeneration: An Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Tool for Plants

Summary

Plants have an incredible ability to regrow entire organs or even whole bodies from a few cells—a process called regeneration. However, not all plants can do this easily, and scientists have long relied on plant hormones to trigger it. In my research, I discovered that two natural plant stem cell genes, called PLT and WOX5, can together reprogram mature plant cells to start growing again—without the need for added hormones. By turning these genes on in specific ways, I could make cells lose their original identity and form new shoots or even embryos from for example roots. These findings not only deepen our understanding of how plants regenerate but also open new possibilities for sustainable crop improvement and biotechnology applications where regeneration is a major bottleneck.