Prospects for the Use of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Animal Conservation and Environmental Protection

Abstract

SummaryStem cells are unique cell populations able to copy themselves exactly as well as specialize into new cell types. Stem cells isolated from early stages of embryo development are pluripotent, i.e., can be differentiated into multiple different cell types. In addition, scientists have found a way of reverting specialized cells from an adult into an embryonic‐like state. These cells, that are as effective as cells isolated from early embryos, are termed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The potency of iPSC technology is recently being employed by researchers aimed at helping wildlife and environmental conservation efforts. Ambitious attempts using iPSCs are being made to preserve endangered animals as well as reanimate extinct species, merging science fiction with reality. Other research to sustain natural resources and promote animal welfare are exploring iPSCs for laboratory grown animal products without harm to animals offering unorthodox options for creating meat, leather, and fur. There is great potential in iPSC technology and what can be achieved in consumerism, animal welfare, and environmental protection and conservation. Here, we discuss current research in the field of iPSCs and how these research groups are attempting to achieve their goals. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2019;8:7–13

A non-invasive method to generate induced pluripotent stem cells from primate urine

“…Our results have implications for isolating urinary stem cells for the generation of iPSC from primates and other mammals. This could be useful in contexts where invasive sampling is difficult, as it is the case for non-model primates and mammals, and where iPSCs are needed for conservation (Stanton et al, 2018) or comparative approaches (see below). So how likely is it that one can find UDSCs also in other primates and mammals?…”

“…The Sendai virus is promiscuous and infects all mammalian cells (Nishimura et al, 2011). Pluripotent stem cells are also present in blastocysts of all mammals and iPSCs have been generated from many species (Stanton et al, 2018). Using human reprogramming factors and culture conditions has led to the generation of iPSCs from many mammals and even avian species (Stanton et al, 2018), albeit with over 10-fold lower reprogramming efficiencies (Ben-Nun et al, 2011;Stauske et al, 2020).…”

“…Pluripotent stem cells are also present in blastocysts of all mammals and iPSCs have been generated from many species (Stanton et al, 2018). Using human reprogramming factors and culture conditions has led to the generation of iPSCs from many mammals and even avian species (Stanton et al, 2018), albeit with over 10-fold lower reprogramming efficiencies (Ben-Nun et al, 2011;Stauske et al, 2020). So while in principle it should be possible to isolate iPSCs from many or even all mammals, variation in reprogramming efficiency with human factors and culture conditions to keep cells pluripotent with and without feeder cells (Stauske et al, 2020) will considerably vary among species and will make it practically difficult to obtain and maintain iPSCs from some species.…”

“…Since this discovery of induced pluripotency, great efforts have been made to identify suitable somatic cells (Raab et al, 2014) and optimize reprogramming methods (Schlaeger et al, 2015). Most of this research focused on human or mouse and while the methods are in general transferable and iPSCs from several different non-human primates (Gallego Romero et al, 2015;Nakai et al, 2018;Wunderlich et al, 2014) and other mammals (Ezashi et al, 2016;Stanton et al, 2018) have been generated, these methods have not been optimized for non-model organisms.…”

May/June 2019 Print Issue: Animalia

“…While the collections at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute include more than 2,500 samples of frozen sperm or embryos from over 100 species, it also holds over 108,000 samples of animal tissues from 1,500 species preserved in the Center for Species Survival Genome Resource Bank. Emerging genomic techniques could potentially transform these tissues into stem cells, and then direct them to become either eggs or sperm (Stanton et al 2019). "Genomics is the real solution, " as one geneticist told me, "We just hope the tech gets there in time. "…”