This week in the journal Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), scientists from Allele Biotechnology describe an important advance in the generation of stem cells capable of producing all the different tissues of the human body. In an article entitled "Feeder-Free Derivation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells with Messenger RNA," Allele's scientists present the fastest and safest method yet for converting ordinary human skin cells into "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPSCs).
The scientific efforts were led by Dr. Luigi Warren, whose pioneering work on "footprint-free" reprogramming using messenger RNA was the foundation for Allele's breakthrough. Through the united efforts of Dr. Warren and the scientists at Allele Biotechnology, his technique was re-engineered to increase cell conversion efficiency and eliminate any use of potentially unsafe reagents, while substantially reducing the time and effort needed to make stem cells. Dr. Warren believes that because of its advantages this technology "should become the method of choice for iPSC cell banking."
According to Dr. Jiwu Wang, corresponding author on the paper and CEO of Allele Biotechnology, "This advance in stem cell derivation will enable both fundamental scientific research and clinical applications which has been the mission of Allele Biotechnology from its inception."