Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic process result in silencing of one of the two alleles (maternal or paternal) based on the parent of origin. Dysregulation of imprinted genes results in detectable developmental and differential abnormalities. Epigenetics erasure is required for resetting the cell identity to a ground state during the production of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from somatic cells. There are some contradictory reports regarding the status of the imprinting marks in the genome of iPS cells. Additionally, many studies highlighted the existence of subtle differences in the imprinting loci between different types of iPS cells and embryonic stem (ES) cells. These observations could ultimately undermine the use of patient-derived iPS cells for regenerative medicine.

基因组印迹是一种表观遗传过程，导致两个等位基因（母本或父本）之一基于来源的父本沉默。印迹基因的失调导致可检测的发育和差异异常。在从体细胞生产诱导性多能干（iPS）细胞过程中，需要进行表观遗传学擦除才能将细胞身份重置为基态。关于iPS细胞基因组中印迹标记的状态，存在一些矛盾的报道。此外，许多研究强调了不同类型的iPS细胞和胚胎干（ES）细胞之间的印迹位点存在细微的差异。这些观察结果最终可能会破坏患者来源的iPS细胞在再生医学中的应用。