iPS Cell Biology: CIRM Spotlight on Research Bottlenecks

On June 23, 2011, Yang Xu spoke to the CIRM governing board about research bottlenecks in induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cell biology. iPS cells are created from a person’s own tissue (eg skin) and yet have many characteristics of embryonic stem cells. It was assumed that iPS would not be rejected by a person’s immune system when they are transplanted back into that same individual. However, Dr. Xu presented research results done in mice that indicate re-transplantation of iPS can lead to rejection by the immune system. Xu is a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego and has a CIRM Early Translation grant.