iPS Cells

What are iPS cells?
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS cells) are a type of artificially-generated stem cell, created from an adult somatic cell (such as a skin cell), that may have the same pluripotency as an embryonic stem cell.

Mouse iPS cells were first generated in 2006 in Japan by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka’s team. In November of 2007, two independent research teams, Dr. Yamanaka’s and one in the United States led by Dr. James Thompson, published another breakthrough using this technique. Both teams, using slightly different procedures, created iPS cells from the adult human cell.

Do iPS cells eliminate the need for embryonic stem cell research?
While iPS cells hold great promise, much research must be done with them to determine whether they truly have the same pluripotent capacities of the embryonic stem cell, and whether they can be safely developed as a therapeutic treatment to repair or replace cells in the human body that have been damaged or destroyed by disease or injury.

What do the scientists say about iPS cells as a replacement for embryonic stem cells?
Researchers say that it would be premature to abandon embryonic stem cell research, which remains the gold standard for measuring how valuable the new cells will be. The new techniques also use factors that can cause cancer, making them unsuitable in current form for therapy.

Dr. James Thompson said in the Washington Post (Monday, Dec. 3, 2007): “A new way to trick skin cells into acting like embryos changes both everything and nothing at all. Being able to reprogram skin cells into multipurpose stem cells without harming embryos launches an exciting new line of research. It’s important to remember, though, that we’re at square one, uncertain at this early stage whether souped-up skin cells hold the same promise as their embryonic cousins do.”