Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Directed Differentiation of Primitive and Definitive Hematopoietic Progenitors from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Published on: November 1, 2017
(Re)defining stem cells
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Abstract:
Stem-cell nomenclature is in a muddle! So-called stem cells may be self-renewing or emergent, oligopotent (uni- and multipotent) or pluri- and totipotent, cells with perpetual embryonic features or cells that have changed irreversibly. Ambiguity probably seeped into stem cells from common usage, flukes in biology's history beginning with Weismann's divide between germ and soma and Haeckel's biogenic law and ending with contemporary issues over the therapeutic efficacy of adult versus embryonic cells. Confusion centers on tissue dynamics, whether stem cells are properly members of emerging or steady-state populations. Clarity might yet be achieved by codifying differences between cells in emergent populations, including embryonic stem and embryonic germ (ES and EG) cells in tissue culture as opposed to self-renewing (SR) cells in steady-state populations.
Related Concept Videos
Stem Cell Culture
Embryonic Stem Cells
Embryonic Stem Cells
ES cells are grown in a culture medium where they can divide indefinitely, creating ES cell lines. Under certain conditions, ES cells can differentiate, either spontaneously into a variety of...
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Somatic cells are...
Source And Potency Of Stem Cells
