Cell Stem Cell 5, 434–441 (2009); Cell Stem Cell 5, 353–357 (2009)

A well-known cocktail of genes can reset many adult cells to 'pluripotency', a state from which they can develop into almost any tissue. Now, two groups have derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines from umbilical cord blood, a source that could be clinically useful.

Ulrich Martin of Hannover Medical School in Germany and his colleagues created the cells from cord blood using four genes, OCT4, SOX2, NANOG and LIN28. Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, and his collaborators generated iPS cells using as few as two genes, OCT4 and SOX2.

Cord-blood cells have not acquired as many mutations as other cells, so stem cells such as these might be less prone to turn cancerous if used as therapy. Nevertheless, both groups used viruses to insert the genes, reducing the cells' direct therapeutic utility.