ISCO has pioneered development of a new class of stem cells, human parthenogenetic stem cells (hpSCs) that has the best characteristics of each of the other classes of stem cells.
The stem cells are created by chemically stimulating the oocytes (eggs) to begin division. The oocytes are not fertilized and no viable embryo is created or destroyed.
Different activation techniques applied to human oocytes allow the creation of either HLA heterozygous human parthenogenetic stem cell lines (hpSC), which are exactly HLA-matched/ histocompatible with the oocyte donor, or HLA homozygous hpSC, which may be histocompatible with significant segments of the human population.
The ethical advantage of derivation from unfertilized oocytes, combined with immunomatching advantage makes these stem cells a very promising source for cell-based therapy.