embryonic stem cells: concepts and potentials

embryonic stem cells (escs) are undifferentiated cells which are typically derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst-stage embryo. in culture, these cells have the capacity to self-renew in an undifferentiated state but also may differentiate into cell types representing the three embryonic germ lineages, thus revealing their pluripotent potential. these cells could be of value for creating in-vitro culture systems and animal models that may be used to study human genetic disease, gene function, drug discovery, developmental biology and differentiation events. this review summarizes a simple description about embryonic stem cell concepts and their potential applications.