Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
essential for inducing pluripotency (Stadtfeld and Hochedlinger,
2010). There is ongoing debate over the best transcription factors to
use, with these discussions being drawn out amid scientific and
technical disputes about the structural equivalency of iPSCs with
embryonic stem cells (cf. Stadtfeld and Hochedlinger, 2010).
Although on the face of it iPSCs seem a much better alternative to
hESCs because they sidestep the ethical issues of using human
embryos in research and provide a potentially easily available source
of disease modelling that would enable better understanding of
disease mechanisms, there are still a number of technical barriers
that need to be overcome before iPSC research replaces hESC research
altogether. Some of the current difficulties with iPSCs include
inefficiencies in techniques of reprogramming that may also increase
the risk of cancer, limited differentiation capacity of reprogrammed
cells, questions about the suitability of reprogrammed cells as a
model for disease and concerns that reprogrammed cells may in fact
promote an immune response when transplanted (Hayden, 2011).
Perhaps less obviously, there are also still a number of ethical issues
associated with iPSCs that will raise concerns about the future of the
field when it becomes more mature. In theory, the capacity to
reprogramme any cell of the adult body could lead to the reprogramming
of cells into oocytes and sperm cells, thus creating new possibilities
for parenthood unseen before (Cyranowski, 2010). One such example
is that both sets of germ cells might be created by reprogramming
cells from one individual, and then recombining them in fertilization,
such that the one individual is both mother and father of any resultant
child (Cyranowksi, 2010). Other possibilities include that these
reprogramming techniques might allow two men to father a child
through reprogramming (Cyranowski, 2010). Reprogramming is also
speculated to potentially be able to resolve the current lack of oocyte
and sperm availability for assisted reproductive services (Cyranowksi,
2010). The technology is a long way off such outcomes but they
remain potential applications nonetheless.
One of the more revolutionary applications of iPSCs is that they
are argued to be providing a new model for biotechnology
development: one that begins with the patient first (Gravitz, 2009).
This patient-centred model of therapy development is attracting
