Why do researchers need embryonic stem cells now that they can reprogram adult skin cells to create induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, which mimic embryonic stem cells?
A. Researchers still need access to embryonic stem cells because the study of iPS cells is in its infancy, and the reprogramming approach may have serious limitations. The standard technique to create iPS cells uses viruses to transfer the reprogramming genes into the skin cells. The viruses cause genetic defects that predispose the reprogrammed cells to cancer. That said, scientists have made great strides recently in finding clever ways to deliver the reprogramming genes without using viruses, then removing the inserted genes afterward — an approach that appears to hold great promise. However, even the virus-free approaches have the potential to create genetic defects that predispose the reprogrammed cells to cancer, so more work is needed to evaluate potential safety issues. Researchers also need to determine whether the reprogrammed cells really can give rise to specialized cells that are indistinguishable from the specialized cells formed by embryonic stem cells. Because of these
Related Questions
- Why do researchers need embryonic stem cells now that they can reprogram adult skin cells to create induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, which mimic embryonic stem cells?
- What about the embryonic stem cell look-alikes generated from adult cells, the so-called induced pluripotent stem cells?
- Will it be feasible to routinely derive induced pluripotent stem cells from somatic cells using small molecules?
