October 3, 2013

expert reaction to trio of comment pieces on induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell banks

In the journal Cell Stem Cell, leading experts in the field published several opinion pieces on emerging issues related to generating iPS cell banks.

Stephen Minger, Chief Scientist, GE Healthcare Life Sciences, said:

“It’s important that researchers understand as much as possible about how iPSCs behave, because, while they may represent promising therapeutic avenues in regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical research, the complexity inherent in how they are derived present numerous challenges to their widespread adoption and use.”

Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, Head of Developmental Genetics, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, said:

“These three articles are very sensible and timely contributions to a more general debate within the scientific community about how to share and make the most of valuable resources. In this case, the authors are concerned with human iPS cells. These are proving invaluable for research into normal human biology and disease processes, and they offer great potential for the development of therapies, whether these rely on small molecule drugs or transplants of iPS cell-derived cells and tissues. Scientists need reference materials and controls in addition to experimental subject matter, which in this case will be patient-derived iPS cell lines. Moreover, the latter gain more value when shared amongst the scientific community. And it may well prove impractical to derive patient-specific iPS cells for grafting back into the patient as a form of therapy given the time and expense involved, especially if the genetic defect needs to be corrected first. In addition, the use of standard methods to derive and maintain the iPS cells, which are best designed by the research community as a whole, will tend to satisfy both practical and regulatory conditions for their clinical use. I am therefore all for banking, open sourcing and sharing of material and data. Any return on investment, however, will depend on the quality and value of the banked cell lines. How to ensure this will require both the good will and sustained effort of the scientific and clinical community – and the generous support of funders.

‘Toward the Development of a Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Library’ by Turner et al., ‘iPSC Crowdsourcing: A Model for Obtaining Large Panels of Stem Cell Lines for Screening’ by Rao, and ‘Banking Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Lessons Learned from Embryonic Stem Cells’ by Stacey et al., published in Cell Stem Cell on Thursday 3rd October.