As a part of writing up my PhD thesis, I adapted this figure from Gilbert’s Developmental Biology, Fourth Edition:

(This figure is my own. Click for a much larger version–suitable for printing on an 8.5×11 sheet of paper.)
When I write about embryonic stem cells, I’m often saying something like this:
Making a new mammal requires a single [...]

What happens when a part of our body gets injured–or just wears out?
The ideal response would be to replace the tissue and cells lost with new, full-functional replacements–regeneration. For the parts of our body that are constantly turning over–skin, blood, and to a lesser extent bone for examples–this is exactly what happens. Since the cells [...]

Everything.

(Image from Takahashi et al., Induction of Pluripotent Cell form Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors, Cell (2007), doi:10.1016/j.cell.2007.11.019)
Ok. Now I believe.
Two groups working independently–Dr. Yamanaka’s lab in Japan and Dr. Thomson’s Lab in Wisconsin–have converted human cells into embryonic stem cell-like cells. This tremendous accomplishment is on par with the initial creation of human [...]

Seattle hosts one of the two major NIH-funded human embryonic stem cell research centers in the United States. This federally funded grant–ten million dollars spread over five years–is supplemented with private donations from the community.
What’s being done with the money: A course to train young scientists, training grant to fund them and community outreach [...]

I’ve just returned from a week long trip to Germany (Düsseldorf and Dresden) for scientific meetings on stem cell research and regenerative medicine–the land of cheerful public artwork, amazing cab drivers and tear-inducing-good mass transit. How many hybrids did I see? Zero
Some thoughts:
I.
Human embryonic stem cell research in Germany is under tight restrictions. It is [...]

The University of Washington was selected by the NIH as one of two national centers for human embryonic stem cell research. The purse? Ten million dollars in federal funds spread over five years. Hurray for us!
(Full disclosure time: I was a small contributor to the grant, including preliminary data, experimental design and writing. The lab [...]