Skeletal muscle is one of the most abundant tissues in the human body, representing approximately 40% of body weight. Under certain circumstances, skeletal muscle can be regenerated through satellite cells, a reservoir of quiescent muscle stem cells, that can be activated with injury or in certain diseases and give rise to newly formed multi-nucleated myotubes and myofibers. However, the regenerative potential of muscle is diminished or is completely absent in the course of normal aging, certain diseases, and space travel. For example, time spent in microgravity can have a profound impact on human physiology, especially the muscular system, as astronauts lose up to 20% of their lean muscle mass and up to half of their strength.  

The identification of countermeasures against the effects of muscle regeneration, including microgravity, is an increasing priority for an aging population and continued space travel. Experiments in microgravity, conducted on the International Space Station, offer a unique opportunity to understand muscle regeneration and the effects of microgravity. Our guests today will discuss muscle regeneration, their muscle-on-a-chip platform that mimics salient aspects of impaired muscle regeneration, and the feasibility of drug screening in microgravity.

Guests

Ngan Huang, PhD, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, USA

Soochi Kim, PhD, Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Korea University, Korea

Host
Janet Rossant, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Gairdner Foundation

Supporting Content
Paper link:  Skeletal muscle-on-a-chip in microgravity as a platform for regeneration modeling and drug screening

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Megan Koch, Senior Marketing Manager
Jack Mosher, Scientific Director
Hunter Reed, Senior Marketing Coordinator

The potential of pluripotent stem cells and the ability to scale and differentiate them to generate large numbers of enriched cell populations has created new opportunities and approaches to treat human disease. Preclinical proof-of-principle data demonstrates that stem cell-derived neural grafts can be used to reverse symptoms of multiple neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s Disease. Cell grafts enriched with dopaminergic neurons, can structurally and functionally integrate in the brain of Parkinson’s Disease models to reverse motor deficits, a finding which has launched several clinical trials. While the results in animal models is essential proof-of-concept, the survival and integration of these cells is suboptimal compared to treatments from fetal-derived ventral midbrain grafts.  An area of preclinical and clinical research showing promise in influencing neuronal survival and plasticity is exercise. The benefits of exercise on neural function and disease progression have been widely reported and they have also been shown to enhance the survival and integration of transplanted cells in models of some neurological diseases. However, there is limited data on the benefit of exercise on the functional outcomes of neural grafts in Parkinson’s Disease models. The guests on today’s program will discuss their recent study looking at the effect of exercise on cellular engraftment and functional recovery in animal models of Parkinson’s Disease and the implications for clinical outcomes. 

Guests
Clare Parish, PhD, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and University of Melbourne, Australia

Niamh Moriarty, PhD, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and University of Melbourne, Australia

Supporting Content
Paper link: Exercise promotes the functional integration of human stem cell-derived neural grafts in a rodent model of Parkinson’s disease

Host
Janet Rossant, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Gairdner Foundation

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Megan Koch, Senior Marketing Manager
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor
Hunter Reed, Senior Marketing Coordinator

Parent-specific epigenetic marks (imprints) leading to parent-specific gene expression are crucial for normal growth and development, yet their mechanisms of establishment and maintenance are not fully understood. In humans, approximately 200 imprinted genes have been discovered, and improper imprinting can manifest in growth restriction, obesity, intellectual disabilities, behavioral abnormalities, and an increased risk of certain cancers. While the use of pluripotent stem cells, especially those in the naïve state, have advanced aspects of modeling early development, a persistent issue hampering bona fide naïve hPSCs is the erosion of imprints. Our guests on today's episode will discuss genomic imprinting, its function, impact, and a new reporter system of imprinted gene expression in hPSCs that enables real-time visualization of loss-of-imprinting at single-cell resolution. This assay provides an important tool to help discover how to improve the imprint fidelity of naïve hPSCs and hence their application for studies of human development and regeneration.

Guests
Thorold Theunissen, PhD, Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University in St Louis, USA

Gal Keshet, The Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Supporting Content
Tracking and mitigating imprint erasure during induction of naïve human pluripotency at single-cell resolution

Host
Janet Rossant, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Gairdner Foundation

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Megan Koch, Senior Marketing Manager
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor
Hunter Reed, Senior Marketing Coordinator

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

The mature lung in both humans and mice is highly vascularized, with approximately 30% of all cells being endothelial cells (ECs). The blood vessels have a physiological role in gas exchange within the tissue, but the vascular cells have additional role(s) beyond supplying oxygen and nutrients to the tissue.  For example, the adult lung endothelium responds to injury by activating pathways for alveolar re epithelialization and during embryonic development, disrupting vascularization ex vivo affects the stereotypical pattern of airway branching, consistent with a perfusion-independent crosstalk between the endothelium and epithelium. Today’s guests explore the molecular contribution of ECs and pericytes to the differentiation of distal airway progenitor cells into mature alveolar epithelial cells and will discuss the broader role of the vascular system in the maturation and regeneration or the lung. 

Guests
Paolo Panza is with the Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Germany. He previously was a postdoctoral fellow in Didier Stainier’s laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research and received his PhD from University of Tübingen, Germany. Professor Panza is the first author of the recently published paper, The lung microvasculature promotes alveolar types 2 cell differentiation via secreted SPARCL1, which forms the basis of our discussion today. 

Mingxia Gu is an Associate Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her PhD from a joint training program between Peking University, Beijing, China and Stanford University, USA, and was a postdoctoral fellow in Marlene Rabinovitch’s laboratory at Stanford. The Gu laboratory studies the regeneration lung, and vasculature among other tissues. Professor Gu is an elected Fellow of the American Heart Association and a member of Early Career Editorial Board for Stem Cell Reports.

Host
Janet Rossant, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Gairdner Foundation

Supporting Content
The lung microvasculature promotes alveolar type 2 cell differentiation via secreted SPARCL1, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Megan Koch, Marketing Manager
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor
Hunter Reed, Senior Marketing Coordinator

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

In this special edition of the podcast, we will talk with the new Editor-in-Chief Janet Rossant and hear about her vision for the journal, its promising future, and what she sees as some of the exciting prospects over the horizon for stem cell research. We will also talk with Yvonne Fisher, the journal’s Managing Editor, and Jack Mosher of the ISSCR, about the evolution of the journal and its role in the Society.

Guests
Janet Rossant is the new Editor-in-Chief of Stem Cell Reports. She holds an appointment as the Chief of Research Emeritus and Senior Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children and is the President and Scientific Director of the Gairdner Foundation. Widely recognized as an expert in embryonic development, Professor Rossant has been recognized for her contributions to science with awards, including the Ross G. Harrison Medal (lifetime achievement award) from the International Society of Developmental Biologists, the March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology, the Conklin Medal from the Society for Developmental Biology, and the 2018 L’Oréal For Women in Science Award. She is a Fellow of the Royal Societies of both London and Canada, and an International member of the US National Academy of Sciences. She previously served as President of the ISSCR. Learn more about Stem Cell Reports editorial team.

Yvonne Fisher is the Managing Editor of Stem Cell Reports. Yvonne received her PhD from Frankfurt University and did her postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Henrik Semb at the University of Lund in Sweden. Yvonne is the longest serving member of the journal, serving as Managing Editor since the journal’s inception in 2012.

Jack Mosher is the Scientific Advisor for the International Society for Stem Cell Research. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Sean Morrison at the University of Michigan. Jack serves numerous roles for the Society including administrative oversight of Stem Cell Reports. 

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
X: @martinperaJAX

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Megan Koch, Marketing Manager
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor
Hunter Reed, Senior Marketing Coordinator

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

During the last decade, advances in genome editing and pluripotent stem cell (PSC) culture have let researchers generate edited PSC lines to study a wide variety of biological questions. However, abnormalities in cell lines such as aneuploidy, mutations, on-target and off-target editing errors, and microbial contamination can arise during PSC culture or due to undesired editing outcomes. To ensure valid experimental results and the safety of PSC-derived therapeutics, it is important to detect these abnormalities and choose PSC lines without them. Existing quality control methods typically focus on detecting one type of abnormality. Whole genome sequencing is an all-in-one detection method for any abnormality involving changes to DNA sequences but until now it has required considerable computational expertise. Today’s guests will discuss a new computational tool, SeqVerify, that analyzes short-read WGS data for quality control of wild-type or edited PSCs. The platform provides an end-to-end analysis framework that can be a valuable quality control method for researchers working with PSCs, and more broadly, for cell line quality control in general. 

Guests
George Church, PhD Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Wyss Harvard Institute.

Merrick Smela, PhD, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
X: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
SeqVerify: An accessible analysis tool for cell line genomic integrity, contamination, and gene editing outcomes, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Megan Koch, Marketing Manager
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor
Hunter Reed, Senior Marketing Coordinator

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

The ability of human pluripotent and somatic stem cells to differentiate into multiple cell types of the human body makes them uniquely useful to model human development and disease. As a result, these cells are shared, edited, and differentiated by laboratories across the world for basic research, clinical translation, and commercial applications. Large and genotypically diverse collections of pluripotent stem cells are being generated to support large cohort-scale research into conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, among many others. However, information about these cells, their derivatives, and the resulting data can be difficult to track due to a myriad of factors including poor naming practices, siloed datasets, and incomplete information on experimental practices in the published literature. As a result, the ability to maximize the utility of these cells and data from them is limited, and the rigor and reproducibility of the research and its application may be seriously compromised. Our guests today, who were part of the ISSCR Task Force that developed the Standards for the Use of Human Stem Cells in Research, will discuss in detail a framework to manage these issues using stem cell registries. 

Guest
Andreas Kurtz, PhD, Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering and the Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies

 Christine Wells, PhD, University of Melbourne Centre for Stem Cell Systems 

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
X: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Resources
Guidelines for managing and using the digital phenotypes of pluripotent stem cell lines, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Pluripotent stem cells are defined, in part, by their potential to generate cell types from all three embryonic germ layers. However, it is well known within the field that there is variability in developmental potential between cell lines. This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as lineage bias, is manifest in a variable response of individual cell lines to induction of differentiation into a specific germ layer lineage. Although lineage bias in pluripotent stem cells has been reported for some years, we do not fully understand its molecular basis, or its implications for normal development. The guests on today’s program studied functional variation in human PSC lines as they progress through neurectoderm versus mesendoderm lineages and fore- versus hind-brain development. They will discuss the origin and consequences of inter-individual variation in the early events orchestrating human neural development, the extent to which such variation might impact on adult health and disease, and how it might be exploited in stem cell therapy. 

Guests
Ron McKay is the Director of Basic Science at the Lieber Institute and has appointments in multiple departments and the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA. He currently serves as a member of the Stem Cell Reports Editorial Board. 

Suel-Kee Kim is an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Neuroscience at Yale University School of Medicine, USA. 

Seungmae Seo is an Assistant Professor at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, USA. Seungmae is a former ISSCR Merit and Travel Award Winner.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Individual variation in the emergence of anterior-to-posterior neural fates from human pluripotent stem cells, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Epigenetic clocks based on tissue DNA methylation analysis have emerged as robust and powerful biomarkers of aging.  This technology has allowed scientists to investigate how diseases affect the aging process, to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic aging interventions, and to correlate age with overall health among the general public. Today you can even purchase test kits online that enable you to measure your own biological age.  However, despite the growing use of epigenetic clocks in research, surprisingly little is known about the aging clock’s cellular underpinnings. For example, it remains unclear whether all cells within a tissue exhibit the same epigenetic age, and whether age-related cellular heterogeneity within a tissue affects the epigenetic clock. This is particularly relevant in regenerative tissues maintained by a hierarchy of stem, progenitor, and differentiated cells, all of which may change their frequencies within a tissue with age. The guests on today’s podcast tackle this important question through analyses of immature and mature cell populations from muscle, blood, and epithelia, using three different epigenetic clocks widely used in the field. They discuss their results, and the implications for the interpretation of existing clocks, and the development of more sensitive and accurate clocks. 

Guests
Konrad Hochedlinger, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, MA, USA

Rebecca Gorelov, PhD, Harvard Medical School, USA

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
X: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Paper
Dissecting the impact of differentiation stage, replicative history, and cell type composition in epigenetic clocks, Stem Cell Reports

 About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Those who study neurological diseases and their underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms have a number of scientific models at their disposal. In vivo animal models, particularly those bearing targeted genetic modifications, remain the gold standard, especially when it comes to assessment of behavioral readouts and neurobiological disease mechanisms in vivo. Historically, animal models have been widely used for preclinical validation of drug efficacy and safety. 

Increasingly there is a move away from this approach, and human cellular models using induced pluripotent stem cells and their derivatives such as three-dimensional organoid models have recently provided unprecedented genetic and mechanistic insights into disease mechanisms. Human/animal chimeras made by xenografting human cells into the animal brain have unparalleled potential to study human cells in the context of the whole organism. Our guests today review the use of these types of model systems to understand neuropsychiatric diseases, focusing on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, Down syndrome, and schizophrenia and provide critical appraisal of the impact of human-rodent xenografting approaches for advancing our understanding of those diseases and brain development.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Guests
Giuseppe Testa, MD, PhD, Università Statale, Human Technopole, and the European Institute of Oncology, Italy

Marlene Pereira, PhD UCB Pharma, Brussels, Belgium

Reinald Shyti, PhD, Human Technopole and the European Institute of Oncology, Italy

Supporting Content
In and out: benchmarking in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo and xenografting approaches for an integrative brain disease modeling pipeline, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

This episode of The Stem Cell Report will discuss the process of directing stem cells to acquire the proper identity, an essential step in the development of effective and durable cell replacement therapies. Specifically, we will talk about the process of directing cells into a ventral mesencephalic dopaminergic fate for treating Parkinson’s disease. 

Guests
Agnete Kirkeby is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen, a Principal Investigator with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine renew, and a Principal Investigator at the Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine at Lund University. Professor Kirkeby led the preclinical development of a stem cell-based therapy for Parkinson’s Disease which was approved for a first-in-human clinical trial in Sweden. Agnete also co-chairs the ISSCR 2024 Annual Meeting Program Committee, the group responsible for planning the upcoming meeting this July in Hamburg, Germany. 

Pedro Rifes received his PhD from the Universidade de Lisboa in Portugal and was a postdoctoral scholar in the Kirkeby Laboratory. He served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen and is currently a Project Manager at Bioneer A/S, a Danish specialty Contract Research Organization.  Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Paper link: Forced LMX1A expression induces dorsal neural lolfates and disrupts patterning of human embryonic stem cells into ventral midbrain dopaminergic neurons, Stem Cell Reports

 About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports  focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff 

Myelination is one of the last events during mammalian brain development and is thought to continue into young adulthood in humans. Even in adulthood, ongoing low-level myelination is essential for neural homeostasis, and for dynamic processes such as learning and memory. Deficits in myelination resulting in abnormal white matter and disruption of neuronal function are observed in a wide variety of disorders of the CNS. One strategy for alleviating these deficits is to enhance the genesis of myelin-forming oligodendrocytes from their upstream precursor parents, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). However, the capability of these OPCs to contribute to remyelination in injury or disease in the adult CNS remains unclear.  To better understand adult oligodendrogenesis and remyelination, our guests today characterized and compared murine OPCs during early postnatal myelination with those from adult injury-induced adult remyelination. Their findings identify two developing OPC groups subserving distinct postnatal functions and suggest that neonatal and adult OPC-mediated oligodendrogenesis are fundamentally different, The findings have important implications for therapeutic interventions aimed at myelin repair. 

Guests
Freda Miller, PhD, Michael Smith Laboratories, The University of British Columbia
Beatrix Wang, BSC, PhD candidate, The University of British Columbia and The University of Toronto

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Single-cell approaches define two groups of mammalian oligodendrocyte precursor cells and their evolution over developmental time, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports  is the open access, peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports  focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. X: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff 

Biomedical researchers have long sought ways to repair spinal cord damage with the holy grail of the pursuit being the reconstitution of lost function. In the mid 1990’s with the successful culture of human embryonic stem cells, and about a decade later induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), the field was energized with a potential new approach to replace the lost neurons and glia cells and restoring neural connections.  In the decades since that discovery some progress has been made, however many hurdles remain, including establishing a functional synaptic connection between the transplanted and host neurons which is crucial for motor function recovery. To boost therapeutic outcomes our guests tested an ex vivo gene therapy to promote synapse formation between the donor and host neurons by expressing the synthetic excitatory synapse organizer CPTX in hiPSCs-derived neural stem and progenitor cells. Tune in to learn what they discovered.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Guests
Hideyuki Okano, MD, PhD Keio University, Japan, Professor in the Department of Physiology and Chairman of the Graduate School of Medicine at Keio University. Professor Okano has spent decades studying neurogenesis and is currently leading a first-of-its-kind cell therapy for spinal cord injury. He has previously served as an Associate Editor for Stem Cell Reports and is a member of the Editorial Board. He is the current President of the Japanese Society of Regenerative Medicine and Vice President of the ISSCR. 
 
Yusuke Saijo, MD. Keio University, Japan, graduated from Kyorin University School of Medicine and following a two-year initial training period, he embarked on a clinical journey, working in the field of orthopedic surgery at Keio University, specializing in the spinal cord and spinal disorders. Dr. Yusuke currently works in the research laboratory led by Professors Okano and Masaya Nakamura, where his research focuses on ex vivo cell and gene therapy for spinal cord regeneration. 

Supporting Content
Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem/progenitor cell ex vivo gene therapy with synaptic organizer CPTX for spinal cord injury, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed  journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scien

Collectively, retinal degenerative disorders are a major cause of blindness worldwide. For example, one of the most common disorders is age related macular degeneration, which alone affects nearly 200 million globally. 

In humans, and other mammals, the loss of the retinal cells is an irreversible process. However, in some non-mammalian vertebrates like frogs and fish, retinal neurons can regenerate. This process is dependent upon Müller glia, which can re-enter the cell cycle and reprogram into neurogenic progenitors upon retinal injury or disease. Progress has been made in understanding the genetic program underlying these regenerative process, and proof-of-principle experiments in the adult mouse retina demonstrated that genetic programs in frog and fish can be coopted to induce neurogenesis in mammals. Our guests today have extended this research to genetically reprogram fetal or organoid-derived human Müller glia into retinal neurons. They will talk about this work, the background underlying it and its potential applications.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Guests
Thomas Reh is a Professor of Biological Structure, and a member of Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington. His research is focused on understanding retinal disease in disorders such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, and on developing treatments for vision loss. The Reh laboratory studies regeneration in animal models, including invertebrates like frog and fish, to understand the key genes involved in endogenous regeneration.  The ultimate goal of this research is to stimulate regeneration in the mammalian retina, and ultimately to restore sight in patients. 

Juliette Wohlschlegel is a postdoctoral scholar in the Reh laboratory. Dr. Wohlschlegel received her undergraduate degree in neuroscience from the Sorbonne Université, and her PhD from Institut de la Vision in France, where she studied inherited retinal diseases. 

Supporting Content
ASCL1 induces neurogenesis in human Müller glia, Stem Cell Reports

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access, peer-reviewed  journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With nearly 5,000 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Since the 1930’s research using human fetal tissue has been used in numerous scientific and medical advances that have saved millions of lives, including the development of vaccines and treatments for diseases. Despite its substantial contribution to medicine and science, significant public debate and misinformation persists surrounding the ethical use of human fetal tissue in biomedical research. 

The ISSCR, led by its Public Policy Committee, have been tireless champions and advocates for sound science policy across the globe. This includes advocacy for fetal tissue research and working to inform policymakers and the public on the vast medical applications and advances that have, and will, come from the use of HFT in biomedical research. Towards that end, the ISSCR and the Lawrence Goldstein Policy Fellows have authored a recent paper in Stem Cell Reports entitled, Human Fetal Tissue is Critical for Biomedical Research.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Guests
Lawrence (Larry) Goldstein, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Director Emeritus of Stem Cell Program at the University of California, San Diego. He is the namesake for the ISSCR’s Lawrence Goldstein Science Policy Fellowship which is training the next generation of scientists to impact public policy. 

Tyler Lamb, JD, is the ISSCR’s Director of Policy and leads the Society’s global policy efforts.  

Tamra Lysaght, PhD, University of Sydney, Australia, is an Associate Professor in Health Ethics.

Justin Brumbaugh, PhD, University of Colorado Boulder, USA, is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology.

Supporting Materials
Drs. Brumbaugh, Lysaght, and Goldstein, along with Brian Aguado, are authors of the recently published paper, Human Fetal Tissue is Critical for Biomedical Research. 

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the Open Access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,800 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

This November marks the 25th anniversary of the successful isolation and culture of human embryonic stem cells by Jamie Thompson.  This breakthrough was a turning point in biomedical research. This discovery provided scientists with a limitless source of human cells to understand human biology and model disease. The discovery also provided a novel pathway to develop tissues and cells that could potentially be used to provide curative diseases like diabetes and Parkinson’s, among others. To date, numerous companies are advancing human embryonic stem cell-based therapies in over 50 approved and regulated clinical trials.  

However, in parallel to the legitimate, approved clinical trials, the great promise of this field has in a sense fostered a plague of rapid and continuous growth in the marketing of unregulated and unproven treatments, via direct-to-consumer clinics across the globe. These predatory clinics offer so-called stem cell therapies to treat myriad conditions with approaches not supported by rigorous scientific evidence. During the pandemic these treatments expanded to include COVID-19, including the use of what’s being advertised as exosome therapy.
 
Guest
The guest on today’s podcast is an expert on the stem cell marketplace of unproven treatments.  Leigh Turner is the Executive Director of the University of California Irvine Bioethics Program, and a Professor in the Program in Public Health’s Department of Health, Society, and Behavior. He is also a member of UCI’s Stem Cell Research Center.  His current research addresses ethical, legal, and social issues related to stem cells and regenerative medicine products. Dr. Turner served on the task force that developed the ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation and is also a member of the ISSCR’s Ethics Committee. Dr. Turner and colleagues authored the recent paper in Stem Cell Reports entitled, Businesses Marketing Purported Stem Cell Treatments and Exosome Therapies for COVID-19: An Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer Online Advertising Claims.  

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the Open Access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,800 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Human stem cell technology has led to remarkable insights into human biology in health and disease. However, for the results and outputs from this research to be accurate, meaningful, and durable, it is important that the field have agreed upon standards that ensure reproducibility and reliability of the data. The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has developed a set of recommendations, including reporting criteria, for scientists in basic research laboratories. These criteria are designed to be technically and financially feasible and, when implemented, to enhance the reproducibility and rigor of stem cell research.  

The guests on this episode  recently served as the co-chairs of the ISSCR Standards Task Force that developed the “Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research" and will discuss the need for the standards, the challenges they faced, and how they will help advance the field.  The initiative was made possible through contributions from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Doris Duke Foundation, and the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.

Guests
Tenneille Ludwig is a Senior Scientist and Director of the WiCell Stem Cell Bank in Madison Wisconsin. As a postdoctoral fellow, Tenneille developed the TeSR media, the first defined, feeder-independent culture media for human embryonic stem cells. She holds leadership roles in numerous international efforts to improve the standards, characterization and banking of pluripotent stem cells including serving on the International Stem Cell Initiative and International Stem Cell Banking Initiative. Currently, Tenneille serves on the ISSCR’s Manufacturing, Clinical Translation, and Industry Committee and co-chaired the ISSCR’s Standards Task Force that developed the new document, “Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research.”  

Peter Andrews is Professor Emeritus at the University of Sheffield in the UK. A founder of the field of human pluripotency, Peter has had a distinguished career studying embryonal carcinoma cells and human embryonic stem cells and was the first to discover that human pluripotent stem cells could develop genetic abnormalities during long term culture. He chaired the International Stem Cell Initiative, the first international effort to standardize methods for the characterization of human embryonic stem cells. Most recently, he co-chaired the ISSCR’s Standards Task Force that developed the new document, “Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research.”

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
https://www.isscr.org/standards
https://www.isscr.org/standards-document

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

The use of organoids as an experimental system is rapidly advancing in pace and complexity. Derived from pluripotent or tissue stem cells, organoids are three-dimensional, in vitro, structures intended to model functional or developmental aspects of in vivo organs. They are also being used to model complex physiological systems in organ-on-chip devices and in assembloids, the combination of organoids from different tissues. Organoids are especially useful to model and understand aspects of human biology and pathology. This approach has led to much hope, and proof-of-principle findings, that these structures can serve as human avatars to advance the discovery of personalized therapies and serve as better models for drug discovery.  

However, the rapidity of advances and the influx of diverse scientific backgrounds also presents challenges in an immature field, notable among them the adoption of standards.  Our guests today will talk about some of those challenges, the areas when standards are critically important, and how they will help advance the field.   

Guests
Professor Melissa Little is the CEO and Executive Director of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW), Chief Scientist at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and leader of the Kidney Regeneration Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia. Melissa is a former President of the ISSCR and holds an honorary position as Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne. 

Kim Jensen is Professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Deputy Director at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine. He is also a Scientific Advisory Board Member of the Lund Stem Cell Center and participated in the development of the recently released ISSCR standards document. 

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
@martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Organoids are not organs: Sources of variation and misinformation in organoid biology

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the Open Access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
@StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

While teeth have evolved over millions of years, scientists are still working to understand how teeth develop, a process formally known as Odontogenesis. Our guests today have developed a new model of mouse tooth development using long-term expandable 3D tooth organoids from postnatal mouse molars and incisors. This novel mouse model provides a valuable tool to study mouse tooth dental epithelial stem cells, dental epithelial-mesenchymal interactions, and differentiation processes, while allowing further elucidation of tooth type-specific features. These models, in combination with human tooth organoids, have great potential to further unravel tooth biology and repair and may be an alluring tool to eventually enable tooth bioengineering strategies.

Annelies Bronckaers is an Associate Professor at Hasselt University in Belgium. Her laboratory specializes in cellular, embryonic, and mouse models to study angiogenesis and tissue regeneration, stem cell differentiation, signal pathway analysis, and ischemic stroke.

Florian Hermans is a postdoctoral fellow at the Universiteit Hasselt in the laboratory of [INSERT]. He recently obtained his PhD in biomedical sciences through joint program between the Hasselt University and the University of Leuven where he worked with in the Bronckaers and Vankelecom laboratories. Prior to his PhD, Dr. Hermans earned master’s degrees in intellectual property, ICT law, and biomedical sciences.

Hugo Vankelecom runs the Laboratory of Tissue Plasticity in Health and Disease and is a full Professor at the University of Leuven. His laboratory is focused primarily on organs involved in endocrinology and reproduction, in particular the pituitary gland, master regulator of our hormonal system, and the uterus.

Host
Martin Pera, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Organoids from mouse molar and incisor as new tools to study tooth-specific biology and development

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the Open Access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Over the last 10 years of Stem Cell Reports, the journal has published nearly 2,000 papers across the breadth of stem cell research. In this special episode of the podcast, we are celebrating the anniversary of the journal by talking with the authors from some of the most highly cited publications in the journal's history.

The guests on this episode of the podcast have collective expertise that makes them the “dream team” of muscle stem cell biology and its application to treat disease.  

 Akitsu Hotta is a Principal Investigator and Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Application, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University and was the recipient of the 2020 Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine Award. His laboratory published the 2015 paper, Precise correction of the dystrophin gene in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patient induced pluripotent stem cells by TALEN and CRISPR-Cas9. 

Thomas Rando is the Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology at the University of California Los Angeles, where he is also Professor of Neurology and of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology. Dr Rando is a board-certified neurologist and a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also the 2023 recipient of the ISSCR Achievement Award, which recognizes the transformative body of work of an investigator that has had a major impact on the field of stem cell research or regenerative medicine. His laboratory published the 2015 paper, entitled, the Ex vivo expansion and in vivo self-renewal of human muscle stem cells. 

April Pyle is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the University of California Los Angeles and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Stem Cell Center, the Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. She is also an Associate Editor of Stem Cell Reports.

Host
Martin Pera, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Human pluripotent stem cells have an unlimited capacity to self-renew in culture. This feature, along with their ability to become any cell type in the adult body, makes them a unique tool to study human biology in health and disease. Unfortunately, human pluripotent stem cells have a propensity to acquire genetic abnormalities in culture that may limit their scientific and clinical use.

Among the most prevalent genomic changes found in pluripotent stem cells are various forms of over-representation of sequences on the long arm of chromosome 20, with up to 20% of tested cultures containing such an aberration. One such anomaly, the isochromosome 20 mutation, is also found in amniocentesis analyses. 

In  this episode, Martin Pera is joined by three scientists, who along with their colleagues, authored the recent paper published in Stem Cell Reports entitled, The isochromosome 20q abnormality of pluripotent cells interrupts germ layers differentiation.  This publication explores the effects of this particular anomaly on the ability of pluripotent stem cells to differentiate both spontaneously and by directed differentiation.  The results were surprising, with implications for understanding early development and the potential therapeutic use of pluripotent stem cells. The authors  also discuss some of the challenges of working with pluripotent stem cells.

Guests
Ivana Barbaric, PhD, University of Sheffield, UK
Pete Coffey, PhD, University College London and the University of California, Santa Barbara, US
Loriana Vitillo, PhD, University College London, UK

Host
Martin Pera, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
The isochromosome 20q abnormality of pluripotent cells interrupts germ layer differentiation, Vitillo, et. al., Stem Cell Reports (2023)

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access journal of the ISSCR for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

The PiWi family of genes may have a diminutive sounding name, but they have a large role in the function of the germline and germline stem cells. Initially discovered in Drosophila, these highly conserved RNA-binding proteins have well-established roles in the regulation of spermatogenesis and germ stem cell maintenance, in addition to silencing transposable elements. However, PiWi function outside of the germline is relatively unexplored. New findings from the Lin laboratory show that Drosophila Piwi has a role in intestinal homeostasis where it functions to establish intestinal stem cells, maintain the enteroblast lineage, and support of the enterocytes. It also has a role in silencing retrotransposons of the gut. Collectively, these intestinal roles of PiWi are critical to organismal longevity as the loss of PiWi leads to a shortened lifespan in the fly.
 
Martin Pera is joined by scientists Drs. Haifan Lin and Xiongzhuo Tang. Dr. Lin is the Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology and the Founding Director of the Yale Stem Cell Center. Among his many achievements, Haifan is a member of US National Academy of Sciences, a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Foreign Member of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently the president of the ISSCR. 

Xiongzhuo Tang was a postdoctoral fellow in the Lin laboratory and is now a professor in the Animal and Nutritional Genome and Germplasm Innovation Research Center in the College of Animal Science and Technology at the Hunan Agricultural University in Hunan China.

Drs. Lin and Tang are authors of the recent paper published in Stem Cell Reports entitled, Piwi maintains homeostasis in the Drosophila adult intestine.

Guests
Haifan Lin, PhD, Yale University
Xiongzhuo Tang, PhD, Hunan Agricultural University

Host
Martin Pera, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Piwi maintains homeostasis in the Drosophila adult intestine, Tang, et al., Stem Cell Reports (2023)

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access journal of the ISSCR for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

This episode is sponsored by Bio-Techne.

While advances in stem cell science have led to an increasing number of stem cell-based therapies entering clinical trials, the field is still relatively immature. Thus, these first-in-human trials are using pioneering approaches unique unto themselves, leaving scientists, physicians, and regulators to assess the best approaches for a specific therapy and/or disease.  In this episode of the podcast, Martin Pera is joined by physician-scientists Roger Barker and Rajesh Rao who have and are leading stem cell-based trials to discuss some of the critical aspects of the process and reflect on the “lessons learnt” during their translational journey.  

Roger Barker, a pioneer in developing cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease, is a Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and Consultant Neurologist at the Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge. He is a Principal Investigator in the Medical Research Council (MRC) – Wellcome Trust Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge and Director of the MRC-funded UK Regenerative Medicine Platform Stem and Engineered Cell Hub. Roger is a current ISSCR Board Member, former chair of the ISSCR’s Clinical Translation Committee and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Rajesh Rao is an ophthalmologist and the Leonard G Miller Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Michigan; Director of Retina Service at VA Ann Arbor Health System; and the Leslie H. and Abigail S. Wexner Emerging Scholar at the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. Dr. Rao is currently running a cell replacement therapy for macular degeneration and is the current chair of the ISSCR’s Clinical Translation Committee.

Guests
Roger Barker, MBBS, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
Rajesh Rao, MD, University of Michigan, USA

Host
Martin Pera, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

Supporting Content
Lessons learnt, and still to learn, in first in human stem cell trials, Barker et al, Stem Cell Reports (2022)

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the open access journal of the ISSCR for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians. Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (@ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

This episode is sponsored by Bio-Techne.

Computational approaches have become integral to understanding biological processes, in part because of a need to come to grips with the enormous amounts of high dimensional data that we generate using our current tools for cellular analysis. This is especially relevant for stem cell and developmental biology where development, disease modeling, regulatory networks, and lineage formation all lend themselves to the combination of experimental and computational methods. Today’s program explores how computational biology approaches can be used to understand and model early development, specifically the lineage commitment of the early embryo and its broader application to enhance the engineering of cell differentiation strategies.

 Martin Pera is joined by bioengineers Peter Zandstra and Himanshu Kaul. Dr. Zandstra is one of the early pioneers in the application of engineering principles to study stem cell biology and is a Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering and the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. He has received numerous honors and awards including being named the Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Bioengineering and he is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Kaul is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow in the School of Engineering and Department of Respiratory Sciences and a new group leader at the University of Leicester.

Host
Martin Pera, PhD – Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

Guests
Peter Zandstra, PhD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Himanshu Kaul, PhD,  University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

Supporting Content
Virtual cells in a virtual microenvironment recapitulate early development-like patterns in human pluripotent stem cell colonies 

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the Open Access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With more than 4,600 members from 75+ countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.
Twitter: @ISSCR

Acknowledgements

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Music
@Konovalov

This episode of The Stem Cell Report will explore the scientific applications, advances, and challenges of interspecies chimeras – organisms consisting of cells from at least two different species. The development of interspecies chimeras, most recently advanced by the discovery of pluripotent stem cells and enhancements in genetic editing, have led to greater understanding of fundamental developmental and biological concepts, insight into evolution, and even the development of potential regenerative approaches for human health. Martin Pera will be joined by Drs. Ori Bar-Nur and Jun Wu, along with Joel Zvick, next generation scientists who are pioneering advances in interspecies chimera research.

Host
Martin Pera, PhD – Editor-in-Chief, Stem Cell Reports and The Jackson Laboratory
Twitter: @martinperaJAX

Guests
Ori Bar-Nur, PhD, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Joel Zvick, ETH Zurich, Switzerland 
Jun Wu, PhD, UT Southwestern, USA

Supporting Content
Exclusive generation of rat spermatozoa in sterile mice utilizing blastocyst complementation with pluripotent stem cells, Stem Cell Reports, 2022

About Stem Cell Reports
Stem Cell Reports is the Open Access journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) for communicating basic discoveries in stem cell research, in addition to translational and clinical studies. Stem Cell Reports focuses on original research with conceptual or practical advances that are of broad interest to stem cell biologists and clinicians.
Twitter: @StemCellReports

About ISSCR
With 4,500 members from more than 70 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.
Twitter: @ISSCR

Acknowledgements

ISSCR Staff
Keith Alm, Chief Executive Officer
Yvonne Fisher, Managing Editor, Stem Cell Reports
Kym Kilbourne, Director of Media and Strategic Communications
Jack Mosher, Scientific Advisor

Voice Work
Ben Snitkoff

Music
@Konovalov