Year 3
Reprogrammed stem cell lines, i.e., induced pluripotent stem cell lines, have the potential to revolutionize research into causes of disease and genetic contributions to the causes of disease. One key limitation, however, is the ability to generate large numbers of different stem cell lines from different people to sample the range of genetic variation in the human population as it relates to disease development. A key bottleneck is the speed and cost with which reprogrammed stem cell lines can be generated and validated for usefulness. We have succeeded in developing a streamlined workflow for characterization of reprogrammed stem cell lines that drops the cost for characterization from several thousand dollars to a few hundred dollars and increases the speed and number of lines that can be handled substantially. We take advantage of novel genetic characterization methods to analyze genetic stability and the pattern of gene expression as it reveals the capabilities of the stem cell lines. We are finishing up the loose ends on this project now and should have a high quality publication prepared for submission shortly that describes this simple and inexpensive workflow that we have developed with modern gene characterization methods.