Commentary in 2009

The field of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will be subject to a wide range of laws and research ethics policies, many of which exist as a result of the controversies associated with research on human embryonic stem cells. Understanding this potentially complex regulatory environment will help iPSC research move forward and will inform future policy.

The discovery that it is possible to render somatic cells pluripotent by the exogenous expression of a set of transcription factors provides an experimental model for studying the molecular nature of cellular identity.

iPS cell technology makes patient- and disease-specific human cells widely available. While technical challenges still remain, the use of these tools will greatly expand our understanding of human disease.

Sequencing-based technologies for RNA discovery are playing a key role in deciphering the transcriptome and hold the potential to provide us with a census of RNAs and their functions.

The potential of mass spectrometry–based proteomics to advance biology and biomedicine is nearly unlimited but so is its potential for generating bad data. Apart from the pursuit of technological progress in protocols and instruments, stringent comparative analyses of different approaches are critical for fully developing the discipline.

Despite expansion of the fluorescent protein and optical highlighter palette into the orange to far-red range of the visible spectrum, achieving performance equivalent to that of EGFP has continued to elude protein engineers.

A wide range of methodology will be needed to bridge the gap between genome sequence and mechanistic understanding in biology. Recent advances in high-throughput genetic screening address this task.