Hematopoiesis from human embryonic stem cells

Human embryonic-stem cells (hESCs) have the capacity to differentiate into multiple lineages, such as neural and hepatic, and include the ability to form hematopoietic cells. Efforts to develop efficient methods to induce hematopoietic differentiation effectively from hESCs, and generate primitive blood stem cells with multilineage hematopoietic repopulating function, are ongoing in several laboratories. Here, we will discuss the past and current progress of our laboratory in this area, and share our ideas to further this use of hESCs in both experimental and clinical hematology.