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January 18, 2013

Leprosy Reprograms the Body

Gisela Telis, Science Now


AP Photo

Leprosy has plagued humans for thousands of years, but that doesn't mean it has revealed all of its secrets. A new study in mice suggests the disfiguring disease employs a bit of biological trickery to do its damage: It reprograms certain nerve cells to become like stem cells and uses them to infiltrate the body's muscle and nervous systems.

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TAGGED: cells, cellular biology, bacterial infection, leprosy

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