Previous studieshaveunsuccessfullytried to producenerve cells from embryonic stem cells For the recent study, a team of USresearchers used adult tissue instead They were able to reprogram ordinary skin cells into induced stem cells Scientistsat Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts used a cocktail of proteins called transcription factors that control the activity of genes Study could help reveal the origins of pain and develop better drugs

By Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline

Published: 13:04 EST, 24 November 2014 | Updated: 13:16 EST, 24 November 2014

Pain is a complex and unpleasant sensation, which some people feel more acutely than others - and its origins remain largely a mystery.

Now, scientists have created pain in a dish by converting skin cells into sensitive neurons in a bid to learn more about these sensations.

The lab-created nerve cells respond to a range of different kinds of pain stimulation, including physical injury, chronic inflammation and cancer chemotherapy.

Scientists have created pain in a dish by converting skin cells into sensitive neurons (illustrated) in a bid to learn more about its origins.In the future, the research could be used to develop better pain-relieving drugs

And in the future, the custom-made neurons could be used to investigate the origins of pain and develop better pain-relieving drugs.

The work follows years of unsuccessful attempts to produce nerve cells from embryonic stem cells, which are immature blank slate cells with the potential to become any tissue in the body.

A nociceptor is a receptor of a nerve cell that responds to potentially damaging stimuli by sending signals to the spinal cord and brain.

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Nerve cells 'grown' in a lab could reveal more about how injury affects the body