Giant panda skin cells transformed into stem cells to help ensure their survival

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A team of biologists in China has reprogrammed skin cells from giant pandas into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), opening the door to creating primordial germ cells that could serve as precursors to sperm and egg cells.

In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, the group introduced a specific microRNA cluster to panda fibroblasts to generate the iPSCs.

Over the past several years, stem cell biologists have been refining the process involved in converting cells known as fibroblasts into iPSCs as a prime part of regenerative medicine research. Such cells can be used to grow different kinds of cells, including those that can mature into organs and egg cells.

In recent years, conservationists have come to see the technology as a potential means to save endangered animals. To that end, iPSCs have been created for a rare zebra, the Tasmanian devil and the northern white rhino.

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