'Magical state' of embryonic stem cells may help overcome hurdles to therapeutics

'Magical state' of embryonic stem cells may help overcome hurdles to therapeutics: With their potential to treat a wide range of diseases and uncover fundamental processes that lead to those diseases, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise for biomedical science. A number of hurdles, both scientific and non-scientific, however, have precluded scientists from reaching the holy grail of using these special cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases. New research shows that ES cells cycle in and out of a "magical state" in the early stages of embryo development.