There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
The discovery of somatic cell nuclear transfer proved that somatic cells can carry
the same genetic code as the zygote, and that activating parts of this code are sufficient
to reprogram the cell to an early developmental state. The discovery of induced pluripotent
stem cells (iPSCs) nearly half a century later provided a molecular mechanism for
the reprogramming. The initial creation of iPSCs was accomplished by the ectopic expression
of four specific genes (OCT4, KLF4, SOX2, and c-Myc; OSKM). iPSCs have since been
acquired from a wide range of cell types and a wide range of species, suggesting a
universal molecular mechanism. Furthermore, cells have been reprogrammed to iPSCs
using a myriad of methods, although OSKM remains the gold standard. The sources for
iPSCs are abundant compared with those for other pluripotent stem cells; thus the
use of iPSCs to model the development of tissues, organs, and other systems of the
body is increasing. iPSCs also, through the reprogramming of patient samples, are
being used to model diseases. Moreover, in the 10 years since the first report, human
iPSCs are already the basis for new cell therapies and drug discovery that have reached
clinical application. In this review, we examine the generation of iPSCs and their
application to disease and development.