Learning & Education

Yamanaka Factors: Making the Impossible a Reality
Nov 24, 2022
More than a decade ago, a pathbreaking discovery showed for the first time that mature mouse somatic cells could be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells (i.e., make them young again). The discovery was made by using the forced expression of four transcription factors: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. These results came from the research group of Shinya Yamanaka, and hence these factors responsible for reprogramming induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are called the Yamanaka factors [1].