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There are currently no approved treatments using embryonic stem cells.

The first human trial was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in January 2009.

However, the human trial was not initiated until October 13, 2010 in Atlanta for spinal injury victims.

On November 14, 2011 the company conducting the trial announced that it will discontinue further development of its stem cell programs.

ES cells, being pluripotent cells, require specific signals for correct differentiation — if injected directly into another body, ES cells will differentiate into many different types of cells, causing a teratoma.

Differentiating ES cells into usable cells while avoiding transplant rejection are just a few of the hurdles that embryonic stem cell researchers still face.

Many nations currently have moratoria on either ES cell research or the production of new ES cell lines.

Because of their combined abilities of unlimited expansion and pluripotency, embryonic stem cells remain a theoretically potential source for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease.