A New Window on Human Developmental Biology
The study of human developmental biology is
particularly constrained by practical and ethical limitations. Human ES cells
may allow scientists to investigate how early human cells become committed to
the major lineages of the body; how these lineages lay down the rudiments of
the body’s tissues and organs; and
how cells within these rudiments differentiate to form the myriad functional
cell types which underlie normal function in the adult. The knowledge gained
will impact many fields. For example, cancer biology will reap an especially
large reward because it is now understood that many cancers arise by
perturbations of normal developmental processes. The availability of human ES
cells will also greatly accelerate the understanding of the causes of birth
defects and thus lead directly to their possible prevention.
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| Contributed by: AAAS DoSER and the Institute for
Civil Society
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