Defined Culture Media for Human Embryonic Stem Cells -- Generation of Disease-specific Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines -- Characterization and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells -- Genetic Modification of Human Embryonic Stem Cells -- Hematopoietic Differentiation -- Neural Differentiation -- Germ Cell Differentiation -- Mesodermal Differentiation -- Three-dimensional Culture of Human Embryonic Stem Cells -- Extraembryonic Cell Differentiation -- Pancreatic Cell Differentiation -- Cardiomyocyte Differentiation -- Human Embryonal Carcinoma (EC) Cells: Complementary Tools for Embryonic Stem Cell Research -- Quality Control of Human Stem Cell Lines. If you wish to grow or characterize embryonic stem cells or persuade them to differentiate into a particular cell type, then this book contains information that is vital to your success. The aim is to provide clear simple instructions and protocols for growing, maintaining and characterizing embryonic stem cells and details of the various methods used to make stem cells differentiate into specific cell types. The contents will be of interest to stem cell biologists, tissue engineers and scientists wishing to use embryonic stem cells for therapeutic purposes. Each chapter has been written and edited by internationally respected scientists working at the cutting edge of technological developments in human embryonic stem cells.