iPSCs Safeguard

To live or not to live? This time, why not let cells answer this problem and select their fates automatically?

This summer, iGEM team of SYSU-China comes up with a new strategy to solve minimize the tumorigenesis risks of iPSCs: We have designed a device which can select the right kind of cells from induced cell mass and retain selection pressure to remove cancerous cells. During differentiation, wrong kinds of or undifferentiated cells will undergo senescence and the transferred cells can be cultured and brought into further usage. After cells are transplanted into organ of patient, the spontaneous cancerous cells can be cleared.

We have chosen hepatocytes and its highly expressed miR-122 to test this idea. For convenience, we have alter promoter of gene into EF1a which will not be silenced in pluripotent stage with a Tet-off switch to turn on the circuit at the right time. Patients suffering from chronic end-stage liver disease are currently receiving inadequate treatment due to the lack of organ donors for transplantation. There are several ways to convert iPS cells into hepatocytes available. We hope that our device aid the development and of iPS technology.

So... To live or not to live?

Our answer goes to: Liver or not to live!