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Elite and stochastic models for induced pluripotent stem cell generation

Nature volume 460, pages 49–52 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Induced pluripotent stem cells offer unprecedented potential for disease research, drug screening, toxicology and regenerative medicine. However, the process of reprogramming is inefficient and often incomplete. Here I consider reasons for bottlenecks in induced pluripotent stem cell generation, and propose a model in which most or all cells have the potential to become pluripotent.

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Figure 1: Two models explaining the low efficiency of iPS cell generation.
Figure 2: Stochastic model.

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Acknowledgements

I thank B. Conklin and G. Howard for critical reading of the manuscript, and members of my laboratory for scientific and administrative support. I apologize to researchers whose work could not be cited owing to space constraints.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan

    Shinya Yamanaka

  2. Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, San Francisco, California 94158, USA ,

    Shinya Yamanaka

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  1. Shinya Yamanaka
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Correspondence to Shinya Yamanaka.

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Yamanaka, S. Elite and stochastic models for induced pluripotent stem cell generation. Nature 460, 49–52 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08180

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