Intestinal stem cells count self-renewal divisions to switch multipotency

TL;DR - Drosophila intestinal stem cells use an epigenetic division-counting mechanism to switch cell fate every ninth self-renewal division. This reveals how adult stem cells can schedule distinct differentiated cell types while maintaining multipotency.

• Stem cells initially produce enterocytes, the intestine’s absorptive cells.
• Every ninth division instead generates an enteroendocrine mother cell.
• The fate switch is governed by an epigenetic mechanism that tracks prior divisions.
• Division history therefore directly influences adult stem-cell output.