A team of Stanford researchers in the School of Medicine has successfully transformed normal skin cells into cancer stem cells. The advancement will aid in cancer research as cancer stem cells are believed to be vehicles for all forms of cancer.

The work, led by Howard Chang, assistant professor of dermatology, was published in Cell Stem Cell on April 10.

The researchers have also discovered that cancer stem cells are more like the stem cells found in embryos — ones that can develop into any type of cell — as opposed to adult stem cells. They believe this piece of the puzzle may be key in determining how normal cells transform into cancer cells.