Pluripotent Stem Cells Induced from Mouse Somatic Cells by Small-Molecule Compounds

Promoting Pluripotency A specialized mammalian cell can be set back to the pluripotent state either by transfer of the somatic cell nucleus into an oocyte or by delivery of exogenous pluripotency-associated transcription factors. Hou et al. (p. 651 , published online 18 July) developed an approach to induce pluripotency in somatic cells using a cocktail of small molecules. The ability to generate such chemically induced pluripotent stem cells may provide an alternate route for therapeutic cloning and for drug development in regenerative medicine.