BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced Wednesday that scientists have discovered a process in the differentiation from human stem cells towards hepatocytes.

The procedure, termed EMT/MET, means a sequential epithelial to mesenchymal transition process during the differentiation from human stem cells to definitive entoderm, and follows by the differentiation into hepatocytes.

The research was led by Pei Duanqing and Shu Xiaodong, two researchers from the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, under the CAS.

Pei said that scientists are expected to generate functional cells, for example, nerve cells, for regenerative medicine through adjusting and analyzing the process of EMT/MET.

The latest study was published in international academic journal Nature Communications online.