Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) is a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated straight from adult cells (e.g. skin and blood cells) following cell reprogramming by using an advanced in vitro technology. Similar to embryonic stem cells (the natural pluripotent stem cells in the body), iPSC can be expanded indefinitely and they are capable of differentiating into all cell types in the body (e.g. heart, pancreatic, neurons and liver cells) depending on the cell reprogramming pathway.

The pluripotency of iPSC makes them a promising candidate in the field of regenerative medicine to replace those lost or damaged cells in a disease condition especially in treating cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.