Toxicology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Toxicology, including details on forensic toxicology, carcinogenicity, assays.

Embryonic stem cells: understanding their history, cell biology and signalling.

Friel R, van der Sar S, Mee PJ

Stem Cell Sciences Limited, Roger Land Building, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JQ, UK.

Embryonic stem cells offer enormous potential as a source of a variety of differentiated cells for cell therapy, drug discovery and toxicology screening. With the creation of human embryonic stem cell lines we now have a resource with the potential to differentiate into every tissue of the body. To fully harness this resource it is necessary to understand their biology. Here we give a background to their history, describe interesting elements of their cell biology and introduce the underlying signalling mechanisms that control their ability to self-renew and differentiate.

Published 29 November 2005 in Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 57(13): 1894-903.
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