What are facts about embryonic stem cell research?

Derived from the inner cells of a human blastocysts, a very early human embryo.

At the blastocyst stage, five to 10 days after fertilization,

the embryo is a cluster of 100-200 cells

All embryonic stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are unlike any specific adult cell.

Human embryonic stem cells are derived from in vitro fertilized embryos less than a week old

Embryonic stem cells are of great interest to medicine and science because of their ability to develop into virtually any other cell made by the human body.

Scientists have been attempting to isolate and culture human embryonic stem cells for more than a decade.

Human embryonic stem cells will offer insights into developmental events that cannot be studied directly in humans in utero or fully understood through the use of animal models