Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Non-Model Species: Applications and Challenges

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cells have revolutionized biomedical research—yet the vast majority of life on Earth remains beyond their reach. Non-model species lack the annotated genomes, validated reagents, and species-specific culture infrastructure that make iPSC technology routine in humans and mice, and this infrastructure deficit, compounded by genuine biological differences in pluripotency network architecture across taxa, is what has kept the field narrow. The deep conservation of the core pluripotency network across vertebrates suggests that reprogramming may, in principle, be achievable across a far broader range of species than currently demonstrated—though the extent to which this holds across more divergent taxa remains to be established. This review consolidates current progress and future potential of iPSC technology across five domains: technical reprogramming challenges and advances; conservation applications including genetic rescue, in vitro gametogenesis, and de-extinction; medical applications within a one medicine framework; agricultural applications spanning disease resistance, climate resilience, and cultured meat; and species-specific iPSC-derived systems in ecotoxicology. Throughout, we distinguish what has been demonstrated from what remains aspirational and identify the priorities that will determine whether the iPSC revolution can be extended—rigorously and at scale—beyond model organism research.