Abstract
The development of embryos of all sorts, from worms to humans, relies on a developmental strategy that uses stem cells to achieve cellular specialization, tissue patterning, and organogenesis. A stem cell is a cell that, when it divides, can produce a copy of itself as well as a differentiated cell progeny. This self-renewal capacity is essential to the function of adult stem cells, such as hematopoietic stem cells and spermatogonial stem cells – to continually renew tissues that turn over rapidly in the adult. However, to date, most adult stem cells have been found to have restricted potential, and achieving indefinite proliferation and expansion of the stem cells in culture is still not routine. During embryogenesis, cells are initially proliferative and pluripotent; they only gradually become restricted to different cell fates. The question of whether pluripotent stem cells exist in the embryo has been of interest for years.
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