Gynecol Obstet Fertil. 2009 Jul-Aug;37(7-8):620-6. Epub 2009 Jul 4.
Human embryonic stem cells: from the human embryo transgressed to the regenerative medicine of tomorrow
De Vos J, Assou S, Tondeur S, Dijon M, Hamamah S.
Institute for Research in Biotherapy, hôpital Saint-Eloi, CHU de Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France.
Abstract
Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of the human blastocyst at day 5 or 6 of the early embryo development. These cells display two cardinal features: they are able to differentiate into cell types from many if not all human tissue (pluripotency) and they proliferate strongly and indefinitely without senescence in vitro. Therefore, hESC are a source of choice for stem cells for regenerative medicine and are a reference model to study the biology of pluripotency. Since 2004, the French law (loi de Bioéthique) authorizes hESC research under certain conditions.
PMID: 19577943 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
