Embryonic stem cell test: stem cell use in predicting developmental cardiotoxicity and osteotoxicity.

In order to prevent birth defects, toxicology programs have been designed to identify toxicities that may potentially be encountered in human embryos. With appropriate toxicity data sets, acceptable exposure levels and actual safety of prescription and nonprescription drugs as well as environmental chemicals could be established for individuals that are more vulnerable to chemical exposure, such as pregnant women and their unborn children. The gathering of such embryotoxicity data is currently performed in animal models.

Improved media compositions for the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into osteoblasts and chondrocytes.

Differentiation procedures leading to osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been established and well upgraded over the past decade. Novel cell-culture conditions, signaling inducers, and chemical modifications of cellular environment have been found and optimized for use as steering or supporting modules in ESC differentiation. While most of the novel studies of osteoblasts or chondrocytes differentiated from ESCs deal with their regenerative potential, the "childhood diseases" of basic differentiation have not yet been quite solved.