The Niche
Aging stem cells: trade-offs between vigor and cancer
Two papers from the University of Michigan show how tissue-specific stem cells trade regenerative potential to control unwanted proliferation. One, in fly testes from Yukiko Yamasita, shows that cells halt their division if the daughter cells would be misoriented. The other, in mice brains, shows how gene expression changes with age to favor decreased regeneration with decreased risk for tumorigenesis.