Human embryonic stem cellsWIKIMEDIA, NISSIM BENVENISTYResearchers in the U.K. have developed a technique to track and compare the mutations occurring in lab-grown somatic cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), according to a study published last week (April 7) in PLOS Genetics. Their findings reveal a lower mutation rate in iPSCs compared to lab-grown somatic cells, plus a low risk of generating cancer-related mutations while creating the stem cells, providing further support for the safety of using iPSCs in regenerative medicine.
“Until now, the question of whether generating iPS cells and growing them in cell culture creates mutations has not been addressed in detail,” study coauthor Allan Bradley of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the U.K. said in a statement. “If human cells are really to be reprogrammed on a large scale for use in regenerative medicine then understanding the mutations the donor cells carry will be a crucial step. We now have the tools to do this.”
Previous work has shown that iPSCs exhibit relatively few mutational differences from their parent cells, but this study marks the first time that researchers have tracked the accumulation of mutations in iPSCs and somatic cells as they grow in the lab. Using cells donated by a healthy, ...
