On Sept 25-27, the journal Cell, which published the first two iPS cell papers in 2006 and 2007, celebrated the 10th anniversary of iPS cells by organizing "10 Years of iPSCs," a symposium in Berkeley, California, that brought together leading scientists in the field to speak about the latest on stem cell research.

Cell published the original iPS cell papers, in which Dr. Kazutoshi Takahashi, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka and colleagues showed that mouse and human fibroblasts can be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells by introducing into them four genes (Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc).

Yamanaka was one of two Keynote Speakers and the one participant whose schedule, according to Cell Stem Cell editor Deborah Sweet, the organizers made sure to accommodate. Other invited CiRA speakers included Junior Associate Professor Takahashi, who is currently serving as a visiting scientist at the Gladstone Institutes, and Professor Koji Eto. Along with the 21 speakers, the symposium displayed 100 posters.

Overall, the talks and posters at the symposium were diverse, covering new discoveries in the science of reprogramming, new technologies to expedite the creation of organoids and tissues in the lab, and drug discovery, including anticipated clinical trials.

The symposium was designed to be small with fewer than 500 participants, which made it much like the CiRA-ISSCR symposium held earlier this year in Kyoto. Lunches were done on site, providing an ideal opportunity for researchers to discuss their research with others. ``It was very easy to talk to other researchers. I was able to discuss current collaborations and hopefully will start a new one from this meeting," said Eto.

• Cell Symposia 10 Years of iPSCs