Taking a trip to a clinic to give blood has just become a mission with a dual purpose. Scientists at McMaster University have discovered how to take those blood samples and make adult sensory neurons. Neurons are cells of the neurological system that can be broadly divided into both central nervous system (think brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nervous system. The peripheral cells communicate with the spinal cord and brain from the outfield, and relay things like temperature and pressure and most importantly, pain detection, all the way to a person’s fingertips. The breakthrough, published today in the journal Cell Reports, was the result of roughly five years of research by lead researcher Dr. Mick Bhatia, director of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, and his team of 12 scientists. On day one, they posed this challenge: What if we could make neural cells from blood?

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