Chapter 21, Problem 14PIAT

Summary Introduction

To review:

The success rate of the new method of producing iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells, and propose a study for testing the functionality of the iPS cells produced by the new technique.

Introduction:

The cells that are obtained by dedifferentiating the adult specialized cells are the iPS cells. They are usually produced by inserting genes into the genome of the differentiated cells. As a result, the genome is altered, which raises a concern for the side effects.

The iPS cells when generated by gene insertion into the genome of differentiated cells alter the genome. The altered genome may have some side effects. To eliminate these, a group of scientists developed iPS cells without altering the genome, which were similar in appearance to the conventional iPS cells. The newly developed iPS cells and those produced by conventional methods were compared by RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction). The results of the experiment are shown in the figure below: