While the creation (derivation) of the first human Embryonic Stem (hES) cells occurred more than 10 years ago, the process used to derive new hES cell lines has not changed significantly and remains a fairly inefficient process. Additionally, new hES cell lines derived under carefully controlled cGMP conditions will be needed for the use in clinical transplantation therapies. Therefore the goals of the Derivation Laboratory at the WiCell Research Institute are to improve the efficiency of the derivation process and to derive new hES cell lines under cGMP conditions.