In this episode, sponsored by bit.bio,  Drs. Marius Wernig and Yi Han Ng join the podcast to talk about the directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into dopaminergic neurons. Their approach, which is based on the expression of specific transcription factors to drive cell fate directly to a specific neuronal identity, has been demonstrated to robust generalate functional dopaminergic neurons of midbrain character. Guests Marius Wernig, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University Website: https://www.werniglab.org/ Yi Han Ng, PhD, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine and Laboratory of Metabolic Medicine, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore Supporting Documents Efficient Generation of Dopaminergic Induced Neuronal Cells with Midbrain Characteristics  Host Martin Pera, PhD: Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory Twitter: @martinperaJAX  About Stem Cell Reports Stem Cell Reports is the open access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. Twitter: @StemCellReports About ISSCR With nearly 4,000 members from more than 65 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health. Twitter: @ISSCR Acknowledgements ISSCR Staff Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer Bethany Almon, Senior Manager of Integrated Marketing Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications Jack Mosher, Senior Manager of Scientific Affairs Voice Work Julie Perlin Ben Snitkoff Music @Konovalov