Stemness as a cell default state.

The potential of stem cells to generate all cell types while retaining the ability to self-renew has attracted much attention; a degree of focus comparable to that of developmental biologists on the capacity of an egg to produce a full organism. This interest has been enhanced by the prospective biomedical applications of stem-cell-derived technologies. As such, efforts are under way to identify the factors responsible for stem-cell fate and for conferring stemness, but a clear and dedicated factor remains to be identified.