Advances in the study on induced pluripotent stem cells

Recently, the study on "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPS cells) has made a great breakthrough, and it is considered as a new milestone in the history of life science. This progress has updated our tradi- tional concepts about pluripotency control, and provided people with a brand-new strategy for somatic cell nuclear reprogramming. In virtue of its availability and stability, this method holds great potential in both biological and clinical research. In order to introduce this rising field of study, this paper starts with an overview of the development of iPS cell establishment, describes the key steps in generating iPS cells, elaborates several relevant scientific issues, and evaluates its current restrictions and promises in future research.