2.2 Induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs)
IPSCs are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be directly generated from somatic cells. Due to this characterization, there is great interest in IPSC technology worldwide. IPSC technology was pioneered by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, when he introduced four specific genes named Myc, octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct3/4), sex determining region Y-box 2 (Sox2), and kruppel like factor 4 (Klf4) (which were also named Yamanaka factors), and then, encoding transcription factors could convert somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. Yamanaka used this technology, and was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize along with Sir John Gurdon “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent(Takahashi & Yamanaka, 2006).