Induced pluripotent stem cells in regenerative medicine

The conversion of somatic cells into pluripotent cells is transforming the way diseases are studied and treated. Owing to their ability to differentiate into any cell type in the body and being patient-specific, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for disease modeling, drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Since their discovery in 2006, significant efforts have been made to understand the reprogramming process and to generate human iPSCs with potential for clinical use. Additionally, the development of advanced genome-editing platforms to increase homologous recombination efficiency, namely DNA nucleases, is making the generation of gene-corrected patient-specific iPSCs an achievable goal, with potential future therapeutic applications. Here, we review recent developments in the generation, differentiation and genetic manipulation of human iPSCs and discuss their relevance to regenerative medicine and the challenges still remaining for clinical application.