title: Reprogramming and Stemness.
abstract: Reprogramming technologies show that cellular identity can be reprogrammed, challenging the classical conception of cell differentiation as an irreversible process. If non-stem cells can be reprogrammed into stem cells, then what is it to be a stem cell, and what kind of property is stemness? This article addresses this question both philosophically and biologically, states the different possibilities, and illustrates their potential consequences for science with the example of anti-cancer therapies.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laplane
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D019070:Cell Lineage; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming / Q000187:drug effects; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D055153:Stem Cell Niche; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents