History

• The National Institute of Health (NIH) reports that the method for deriving and growing human embryonic stem cells was not developed until 1998. The method was developed based on information gained by studying mouse embryonic stem cells.
  
  

Characteristics

• Human embryonic stem cells have the capacity to become virtually any type of cell in the human body. Left to their own devices, human embryonic stem cells will begin to differentiate on their own.
  
  

Technical Challenges

• While these stem cells can differentiate into specific types of cells, the technology and methodology for consistently inducing specific differentiation is not yet in place. However, some advancements have been made in that direction.
  
  

Potential Uses

• If the technological and methodological challenges can be overcome, embryonic stem cells have the potential to provide treatment for a wide variety of conditions including Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy and spinal injuries.
  
  

Objections

• The development and use of in vitro (lab grown) embryos for medical research has generated significant controversy. The arguments tend to center on the potential personhood of embryos against the humanitarian objectives of the research.