IPS Cells And Banned SCNT-Derived Stem Cells Are Similar
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)-derived cells are world's apart. iPSCs became a major research force because they are adult stem cells and lack the controversy of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) while SCNT is banned by the Obama administration even though most biologists are in favor of it. Yet that is politics. Scientifically, they have far more in common, which makes the scientization of politics issue more odd. A team led by the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute did a study comparing iPS cells and embryonic stem cells created using SCNT and they found that the cells derived from these two methods resulted in cells with highly similar gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. read more