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Nature Cell Biology 8, 212–214 (1 March 2006) | doi:10.1038/ncb0306-212

Repressed by a NuRD

Jeremy M. Crook , N. Ray Dunn & Alan Colman

Embryonic stem cells, although laboratory artifacts, share two distinctive properties with somatic stem cells: the first is the ability of both cell types to undergo mitotic self renewal over extended periods; the second is their ability, under the appropriate environmental cues, to change into a range of specialized cell types. Generally, the triggers for differentiation remain obscure when compared with our burgeoning understanding of the molecular pathways that preserve the undifferentiated state.