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HEREDITAS ›› 2012, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (3): 260-268.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1005.2012.00260

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The genetic safety of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells

CHEN Qian, SHI Qing-Hua   

  1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
  • Received:2011-11-16 Revised:2012-01-12 Online:2012-03-20 Published:2012-03-25
  • Contact: Shi Qing-hua E-mail:qshi@ustc.edu.cn

Abstract: Since Takahashi and Yamanaka first generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from mouse fibroblasts successfully in 2006, iPS cells have rapidly become a new hotspot in the field of stem cells research because of their broad potential application prospects. Meanwhile, more and more attentions are paid to the genetic safety of iPS cells. This article summarizes recent findings on genetic safety of iPS cells and reviews the possible causes leading to genetic instability of iPS cells. Hopefully, this review is helpful to improve the induction of iPS cells and obtain genetically safe iPS cells.

Key words: epigenetic abnormality, iPS cells, genetic safety, genetic instability, genetic abnormality