1998/11/06 by James A. Thomson, Joseph Itskovitz‐Eldor, Sander S. Shapiro +4 · 15,952 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · #Pluripotent Stem Cells Research #Mesenchymal stem cell research #Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine #Biology #Embryonic stem cell #Endoderm #Germ layer #Cell biology #Ectoderm #Stem cell #Amniotic epithelial cells #Blastocyst #Inner cell mass #Mesoderm #Epithelium #Embryoid body #Adult stem cell #Induced pluripotent stem cell #Anatomy #Embryogenesis #Embryo #Genetics
paper · doi:10.1126/science.282.5391.1145
published in Science 282(5391), 1145-1147 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
openalex publication_date 1998/11/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Human blastocyst-derived, pluripotent cell lines are described that have normal karyotypes, express high levels of telomerase activity, and express cell surface markers that characterize primate embryonic stem cells but do not characterize other early lineages. After undifferentiated proliferation in vitro for 4 to 5 months, these cells still maintained the developmental potential to form trophoblast and derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers, including gut epithelium (endoderm); cartilage, bone, smooth muscle, and striated muscle (mesoderm); and neural epithelium, embryonic ganglia, and stratified squamous epithelium (ectoderm). These cell lines should be useful in human developmental biology, drug discovery, and transplantation medicine.