Today, induced pluripotent stem cells are mostly used to understand how certain diseases occur and how they work. By using IPS cells, one can actually study the cells and tissues affected by the disease without causing unnecessary harm to the patient. For example, its extremely difficult to obtain actual brain cells from a living patient with Parkinsons Disease. This process is even more complicated if you want to study the disease in its early stages before symptoms begin presenting themselves.

Fortunately, with genetic reprogramming, researchers can now achieve this. Scientists can do a skin biopsy of a patient with Parkinsons disease and create IPS cells. These IPS cells can then be converted into neurons, which will have the same genetic make-up as the patients own cells.

Because of IPS cells, researchers can now study conditions like Parkinsons disease to determine what went wrong and why. They can also test out new treatment methods in hopes of protecting the patient against the disease or curing it after diagnosis.

In addition, IPS cells have also been looked to as a way to replace cells that are often destroyed by certain diseases. However, there is still research to be done here.

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What Are Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells? - Stem Cell: The ...