Generation of germline-competent induced pluripotent stem cells.

Generation of germline-competent induced pluripotent stem cells

June 2007- Building on the previous study by Takahashi and Yamanaka, Okita et al. demonstrated that “selection for Nanog expression results in germline-competent iPS cells” that had many more similarities to ES cells in terms of gene expression and DNA methylation patterns. They were able to obtain adult chimeras from seven Nanog iPS cell clones. This experiment also demonstrated that the retroviral introduction of c-Myc should be avoided, as it was linked to the formation of tumors (Okita et al. 2007).