Overview of the Current Status of Research on Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

Seventeen years after the first description of the derivation and properties of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells [1, 2], Thomson and co-workers [3] reported the isolation of human ES cells from blastocysts. The derivation of human ES cells has led to hopes that their availability will revolutionise biomedical research and transplantation medicine. While it is not difficult to envision potential applications of human ES cells in research or regenerative medicine, many obstacles must be overcome before these cells are used, for example, in high throughput assays to elucidate gene function or to screen chemical libraries for active compounds, and before clinical trials in transplantation can begin. Although the challenges are complex, there has already been significant progress in our basic understanding of human pluripotent stem cell biology. I review that progress here. I consider aspects of the biology of human ES cells and compare them to the better characterised mouse ES cells, then discuss recent advances in the biology of human ES cells. This review will also touch on the more limited studies to date using embryonic germ (EG cells) [4] derived from human embryonic or foetal gonads.