In the June issue of Nature Biotechnology, S. Rodin et al. from the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) reported their study results in long-term propagation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) using a human recombinant protein, laminin-511 (α5, β1, γ1 chains) as a substrate, concomitant with defined medium supplemented with human albumin. The hESCS were propagated without feeder cells and the investigators were able to expand and passage (20) the cultures for at least 4 months without a loss in pluripotency. Following long-term cultivation, the scientists were able to differentiate the hESCs into cells all 3 germ layer lineages) as well as maintain the capacity to form teratomas. The researchers also reported that plating clumps of the hESCs onto laminin-511 allowed the cells to adhere to the substrate and form a monolayer culture while maintaining homogeneity in which the experimental results showed 97% of the cells were Oct4+. Adhesion to the substrate was dependent upon the hECC binding α6&beta1 integrin. The author noted that their recombinant substrate provides a novel approach for the generating a homogenous monolayer of hESCs or iPSCs cell cultures, which "provides more controllable conditions" for differentiating pluripotent stem cells down specific cell lineages for future therapeutic purposes.