Mutations found in ordinary human cells reprogrammed as induced pluripotent stem cells

Human induced pluripotent stem cells. Image credit: Courtesy of James Thomson.

(L-R) Bioengineering professor Kun Zhang, bioengineering Ph.D. student Athurva Gore, and bioengineering alumna and staff researcher Alice Li are authors on the Nature paper. Photo taken in the Kun lab in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

A new study, published in the March 3 issue of journal Nature and led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego in collaboration with other leading stem cell research groups, finds that the genetic material of reprogrammed cells may in fact be compromised, and suggests that extensive genetic screening of hiPSCs become standard practice before these stem cells are used clinically.

Read more on the Jacobs School news site.