Pre-commercialisation validation of Stem Cell Generator as a highly efficient single transfection iPSC reprogramming vector

Pluripotent stem cells are the cornerstone of Regenerative Medicine; a potentially limitless supply of cells that can be differentiated into virtually any cell type in the human body for use in cell therapy and transplantation. Human Embryonic Stem (ES) cells are already being used in clinical trials to treat eye disease and spinal cord injury but the necessity for immune suppression and ethical contention limit their widespread application. The emergence of induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cell technology means that a patients own skin cells can be genetically reprogrammed to pluripotency by the expression of just four key genes. This technology is currently precluded from clinical use because two of the four genes have been shown to cause cancer. We have developed a new way of generating iPS cells that does not use the two cancer causing genes. We have shown that this method is also more efficient at making iPS cells and we hope that it will expedite a route to clinical application.