ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the various sources, methods of reprogramming, characterization and banking of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), their maintenance, and potential applications. Human iPSCs are able to differentiate into disease-relevant cell types, which serve as a key in patient-specific disease modeling and cell replacement therapies. The use of human embryonic stem cells in cellular therapies in regenerative medicine has, in the decade, emerged as a promising strategy in the development of cell replacement therapies. The optimal delivery of reprogramming factors is crucial in achieving pluripotency, and as this is a rapidly developing field, several techniques have been employed for the generation of iPSCs. Clone selection and isolation is key to obtaining a clean homogenous culture of iPSCs. For selection, the colonies are visually inspected for embryonic stem cells -like morphology and manually isolated. The selected colonies are picked using a pipette and transferred on to a fresh extracellular matrix-coated dish and expanded.
