Genetic abnormalities identified in pluripotent stem cell lines

Media-Newswire.com - Press Release Distribution - PR Agency A multinational team of researchers has documented specific genetic abnormalities that occur in human embryonic (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines. The published findings highlight the need for frequent genomic monitoring of pluripotent stem cells to assure their stability and clinical safety. "We found that human pluripotent cells (hESCs and iPSCs) had higher frequencies of genomic aberrations [often associated with cancers] than other cell types," said Louise Laurent, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the UCSD Department of Reproductive Medicine and first author on the study. "Most strikingly, we observed a higher frequency of genomic duplications in hESCs and deletions in iPSCs, when compared to non-pluripotent samples."