Opportunities for Use of Human iPS Cells in Predictive Toxicology

Toxicity assessment is a major challenge in cost-effective drug development, and there is a great need for better tools to accurately predict adverse drug reactions. Technological advances are empowering new cell-based assays for predictive toxicology, and these assays are critically dependent on the cell source. Here, we describe the properties of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that make them a promising source for toxicity assessment, highlight the progress to date, and point out the important roadblocks that remain. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2011) 89 5, 754–758. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.9