Op-Ed: CIRM’s stance after pluripotency

January 28, 2008

The swiftly changing scientific landscape has seen the rise and fall of many favoured stem cell types and technologies. Some of what is de rigueur today will be dé classé tomorrow. Inducing pluripotency currently requires randomly inserting genes for transcription factors using engineered viruses1, 2, 3, 4, whereas creating ES cells from primates using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) requires hundreds of mature oocytes5. These issues are but the tip of the iceberg; many complex problems remain unsolved. Numerous challenges and opportunities lie ahead in stem cell science, and the rapidly moving field requires continued funding by CIRM to meet them. (Nature)