Recent improvements and emerging issues in iPSC generation for the modeling of disease

Recently, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have attracted attention as a novel tool for the modeling of disease because of their potential to reveal new insights that have not been elucidated using animal models. Since iPSC generation was first reported, there have been many efforts to improve the method of generating iPSCs for clinical applications. To date, many methods for iPSC generation have been reported. Each has advantages and disadvantages for the modeling of disease, and thus the most appropriate method differs depending on the intended use of the iPSCs. Additionally, as the study of disease modeling with human iPSCs has progressed, the need to remove uncertainties due to variations in iPSCs cell lines has increasingly focused researchers’ attention on attaining experimental accuracy. Recognition of these uncertainties is important for the advancement of disease modeling studies with iPSCs.