Growth Conditions for Primate vs Murine Embryonic Stem Cells

Cultured embryonic stem (ES) cells are continuous cell lines derived from 3- to 5-day-old embryonic blastocysts. Essentially an artifact of tissue culture, they can, under certain physiological conditions, sustain an undifferentiated state with the capacity to divide and renew themselves indefinitely while having the ability to differentiate into all cell types when so instructed by specific extracellular signals. An understanding of these fundamental properties and elucidation of the underlying mechanisms involved is important for implementation of potential stem cell-based therapies for human disease.