title: The promise of human induced  pluripotent stem cells for research  and therapy.
abstract: Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are human somatic cells that have been reprogrammed to a pluripotent state. There are several hurdles to be overcome before iPS cells can be considered as a potential patient-specific cell therapy, and it will be crucial to characterize the developmental potential of human iPS cell lines. As a research tool, iPS-cell technology provides opportunities to study normal development and to understand reprogramming. iPS cells can have an immediate impact as models for human diseases, including cancer
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, Center for Developmental Biology, RIKEN, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. nishikawa@cdb.riken.jp
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Concepcion R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Nierras
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; D006801:Humans; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*