New Stem Cell Identified: Researchers isolate an easy-to-manipulate, stable, and spatially distinct pluripotent cell type

Scientists have isolated and defined a new type of pluripotent cell from early mouse embryos and from monkey and human stem cell lines. The monkey- and human-derived versions of these pluripotent cells can divide and generate the three germ layers in a developing mouse embryo, providing the first demonstration that human pluripotent cells can begin a differentiation program inside mice. In their May 6 Nature paper reporting these results, developmental biologist Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, and his colleagues suggested that these newly identified cells may be useful for modeling early human development and might in the future be used to generate tissues and organs for clinical applications.