| | FAQs [Stem Cell Information] |
 | | When a stem cell divides, each "daughter" cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell. |
 | | This means that embryonic stem cells may be pluripotent—that is, able to give rise to cells found in all tissues of the embryo except for germ cells rather than being merely multipotent—restricted to specific subpopulations of cell types, as adult stem cells are thought to be. |
 | | Many of the cell lines have been characterized as embryonic stem cells by detecting expression of surface antigen markers specific to embryonic stem cells, determining if the cells are pluripotent, and demonstrating that the cells are undifferentiated. |
| stemcells.nih.gov /info/faqs.asp (4117 words) |