UW Human Stem Cell Core at the Waisman Center

Waisman Pluripotent Stem Cell Gene Editing Service

The “UW Human Stem Cell Editing Service”, located in the Waisman Center provides CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to campus researchers. Gene editing enables the creation of isogenic human PSC lines by correcting the gene mutation in the patient iPSCs or by knocking a mutation into otherwise normal human PSCs. The isogenic cells have the identical genetic background except for the mutation, thus providing stringent controls and avoiding much of the variability inherent in iPSCs, which will greatly enhance our ability to understand how those mutations cause particular diseases. In addition to using gene editing to correct or establish mutations in hPSCs, the service will use new technologies to enable strategies to regulate gene expression, delete genes and insert tags that allow rapid cell sorting.

Waisman induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Service

Cell reprogramming from biopsy tissue, fibroblasts or blood samples will be carried out by the induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) service of the Waisman Center Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (WC CMN) Core under the direction of Dr. Su-Chun Zhang. Since 2009 the iPSC (induced Pluripotent Stem Cell) service has generated over 30 iPS cell lines from diseased and control individuals. The Waisman Center and WiCell Research Institute, Inc. offer a collaborative service to derive and characterize induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines solely for the benefit of researchers engaged in stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. WiCell will expand and characterize iPSC generated by Waisman iPSC service. The added value for UW researchers using this collaborative iPSC service include 1) better, more rigorous characterization of iPSCs, 2) expansion of cells for distribution, and 3) distribution of iPSCs at no additional cost.