Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have been the focal point of ever increasing interest and scrutiny as they hold the promise of personalized regenerative medicine. However, creation of iPSCs is an inefficient process that requires forced expression of potentially oncogenic proteins. In order to unlock the full potential of iPSCs, both for basic and clinical research, we must broaden our search for more reliable ways of inducing pluripotency in somatic cells. This review surveys an area of reprogramming that does not receive as much focus, barriers to reprogramming, in the hope of stimulating new ideas and approaches towards developing safer and more efficient methods of reprogramming. Better methods of iPSC creation will allow for more reliable disease modeling, better basic research into the pluripotent state and safer iPSCs that can be used in a clinical setting.
Keywords: Induced pluripotency; Reprogramming; Stem cells.