A study led by researchers at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering offered up new insights into the mechanisms of stem cell differentiation, which could one day help scientists develop regenerative therapies for muscle disease, injury and atrophy. By studying how easily different pluripotent stem cell lines differentiate into muscle cells, and comparing time-dependent changes in their transcriptomic profiles, the researchers discovered epigenetic mechanisms that can be triggered to accelerate stem cell differentiation into new muscle cells.