Wenjie Jiang, Jian Zhang, Xiaomei Yang and Jiangang Gao
Embryonic stem (ES) cells are used in various fields for diverse purposes, including gene targeting, cell therapy, tissue repair, organ regeneration, and so on. However, studies on and applications of ES cells are hindered by ethical disputes regarding cell source. To circumvent ethical issues, scientists have attempted to generate ES celllike cells, which are not derived from the inner cell mass of blastocyst-stage embryos. In 2006, Yamanaka first reprogrammed mouse embryonic fibroblasts into ES cell-like cells, which were called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Nearly a year later, the Yamanaka and Thomson laboratories independently reprogrammed human somatic cells into iPS cells. Since the establishment of the first iPS cell line, iPS cells have been derived from a number of different cell types and have been used for cell therapy, human disease modeling, and drug discovery. The use of peripheral blood facilitates research on iPS cells and enables the establishment of patient-specific iPS cells. With the improvement in iPS cell technology, clinical therapy based on iPS cells will rapidly develop.
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