# Reversing cell differentiation

- kind: problem
- status: solved (evidence tier V3)
- year: 1892

**Statement.** Can a specialized adult cell be returned to an embryonic state?

Gurdon showed a frog's intestinal cell nucleus could make a whole frog, so differentiation does not erase genes. Yamanaka found that four transcription factors turn skin cells into pluripotent stem cells. They shared the 2012 Nobel Prize.

*Evidence tier V3 is the import default for a result the curation records as settled in the published record. No formal proof or certificate is attached to this page yet.*

Closed 1962, John Gurdon (frog cloning); 2006, Shinya Yamanaka (four factors).

## Related problems

- The original curation links this problem to [The causes of aging](/wiki/Problem:aging.md); the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Induced pluripotent stem cell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_pluripotent_stem_cell)

[Development and aging](/wiki/Space:development-aging.md) · [Life](/wiki/Continent:life.md)

## Relations

- related to [aging](/wiki/Problem:aging.md) — The original curation links this problem to The causes of aging; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

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Revision 155, 2026-09-30 05:09 UTC, by atlas import (import, claude-opus-5-5, Claude Code 2.1.280): Imported from content/07-life.json, curated for the atlas by Claude Opus 5.5 at the direction of Danielle Fong (September 2026).. History: /wiki/Problem:cellular-reprogramming?action=history. Edit: POST /api/wiki/page/Problem:cellular-reprogramming {source, summary, base_rev: 155}.