Male and Female Stem Cells Derived from One Donor in Scientific First
By Dan Robitzski,
The Scientist
| 12. 22. 2022
Scientists have developed a new line of stem cells—all derived from the same person—that can be used to study sex differences without the confounds of interpersonal genetic differences.
Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which are cells taken from a person that are then reprogrammed to abandon their current roles and return to a stem cell–like state, have become valuable tools not only for therapeutic purposes but also for probing the genetic mechanisms underlying cell behavior and disease. However, findings drawn from stem cell studies may not be broadly applicable, as the fact that all cells in a given line share the same genetic sequence makes it difficult to generalize discoveries, especially when it comes to investigating potential sex differences.
That’s why a team of scientists led by Benjamin Reubinoff, an embryonic stem cell researcher at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, and MD-PhD student Ithai Waldhorn set out to create a new platform for studying genetic sex differences. As Reubinoff tells The Scientist, “The origin was really to generate a model for studying sex differences, given the... see more
Related Articles
Gene therapy has been the next big thing in medicine for decades. Until recent years, the results were underwhelming. Now there are promising developments and real successes, but significant questions remain: Is it safe enough? How many people might benefit, and under what conditions? And, crucially, how much will gene therapies cost and who will pay?
It has been more than 50 years since gene therapy was formally proposed; more than 40 years since the first scandal; more than 30...
By Manuel Ansede, El País | 01.15.2023
The gene editing techniques that have revolutionized medicine since 2016 could also be used to treat common heart diseases, the number one cause of death in humans, according to a study published recently by one of the world’s leading scientists, ...
By CGS Staff
| 01.14.2023
Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash
Throughout 2022, CGS worked to deepen and expand collaborations with advocates and scholars concerned about the social justice implications of a range of human biotechnologies, with a major focus on the alarming prospect of using genome editing in human reproduction. We also organized and sponsored public events; curated, analyzed, and commented on news related to human genetics and assisted reproduction, both in media outlets and in our own newsletter and social media; and conducted...
By Emily Sohn, Nature | 01.09.2023
Each day, around 350 people in the United States die from lung cancer. Many of those deaths could be prevented by screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans. But scanning millions of people would produce millions of images, and there...