Keynote Presentation: CRISPR Meets iPSCs: Powering the New Wave of Biomedical Discovery

CRISPR and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) form a partnership that has fundamentally reshaped biomedical research. Together, they enable disease modeling, functional studies, and high-throughput screening in iPSC-derived systems.
Yet, with this powerful potential comes the challenge of maintaining rigor and reproducibility. iPSCs are uniquely sensitive, susceptible to pluripotency drift and genomic instability—a trait that becomes particularly obvious after gene editing. Ensuring reliability therefore depends on standardized methodologies and robust quality control, highlighting the critical role of core facilities. By providing expertise, optimized protocols, and stringent quality assurance, these facilities safeguard the integrity of research outcomes.
This talk will explore not only the groundbreaking opportunities offered by the CRISPR–iPSC combination, but also the essential quality measures required to ensure consistency, reliability, and reproducibility in the field.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe how CRISPR and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are applied in disease modeling, functional studies, and high-throughput screening.

2. Explain challenges such as pluripotency drift and genomic instability that affect iPSC research after gene editing.

3. Discuss how standardized methodologies, quality control measures, and core facilities support rigor and reproducibility in CRISPR–iPSC studies.