ANN ARBOR, Mich.—The University of Michigan announced the formation of a consortium to create new embryonic stem cell lines that will aid the search for disease treatments and cures. read more

This highly magnified human blastocyst (the early embryo) is about the same size as a period at the end of a printed sentence. Embryonic stem cells are created from the inner cell mass from leftover embryos at this stage after egg and sperm are mixed in a dish in a fertility clinic. Excess embryos used for research would never be used for fertility purposes, but are routinely discarded as medical waste. Courtesy of Gary Smith, PhD

High magnification image of human embryonic stem cells differentiated into neurons (red cells) by treating cells with a growth factor. These could be used to study the development of the nervous system, birth defects or to replace cells lost to injury, aging or diseases such as Parkinson’s. Courtesy of Sue O'Shea, PhD

A magnified image (200x) of a thousands of human embryonic stem cells growing together as a colony (the silver cluster of cells in the center of the image) growing on top of mouse feeder cells (the dark filamentous structures). These cells can become any cell type in the body and divide indefinitely. Courtesy of Jack Mosher, PhD.