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...
Related Articles
By Sarojini Nadimpally and Gargi Mishra, The Wire | 12.15.2024
In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) as assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been in vogue for quite a few decades now. While IVF has been hailed as a significant scientific advancement, with many advantages, here are some limitations which bear keeping in mind...
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
It is hard to make predictions, especially about the future, as Yogi Berra, Niels Bohr, and other luminaries have remarked. But there are already signs that the incoming Trump administration may have some difficulty establishing consistent policies about controversial issues concerning human reproduction.
On the one hand, consider “the conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration.”
The notorious Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership seeks to delete terms such as “reproductive rights” from “every federal...
By Susan Dominus, The New York Times | 11.30.2024
In the days after Daphna Cardinale delivered her second child, she experienced a rare sense of calm and wonder. The feeling was a relief after so much worrying: She and her husband, Alexander, had tried for three years to conceive...
