Abstract
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC) can be directed to differentiate in vitro into insulin-prorducing beta cells (SC-β). Although these cells accurately respond to glucose and can reverse diabetes in preclinical models improvments in the final cell products are desirable. For example, safety, controlling the cellular compositions and protection against immune rejection may be addressed by genetic modifications of SC-β pre-transplantation. To screen for gene targets, we have generated a human embryonic stem cell line (hESC) that constitutively express the enhanced specificity Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (eSpCas9) gene, knocked-in into the GAPDH locus.