The Niche
Pluripotency without viruses or embryos
Ever since human cells were reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells, a large group of scientists have said confidently that the feat can be accomplished without modifying the genome. Just this week, there has been a flurry of papers showing advances. Perhaps getting the most press are reports that biopsies from testes can be reprogrammed to pluripotency without any genetic modification at all.