Year 2

Our goal is to develop human embryonic stem cell lines as models for disease. Over the course of this grant we have consented embryos from patients across the United States. These embryos were diagnosed with many different types of diseases, including retinoblastoma, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and Fragile X. To optimize the creation of these disease models, we have developed new methods both to obtain embryos over long distances to ensure survival and have increased our human embryonic stem cell derivation frequency from 10 to 30%. Over the next year, we expect to derive stem cell lines from many different diseases to be studied as important in vitro models.