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.

One thing that researchers on such projects have learned along the way is that the process of transforming fibroblasts to iPSCs is different for each species, which means that a new process is required to create iPSCs for each new animal. In this new effort, the research team has created a process for the giant panda.

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