Shinya Yamanaka
The team could show that the iPS cells were pluripotent (capable of generating all cell lineages of the body). Soon they grew mice which included iPS cells. In 2007, he and his team generated iPS cells from human adult fibroblasts, again the first group to do so.  The main medical application will be replacement of faulty or damaged tissues in humans. This is not available at present. An independent assessment of this field is available.