Patent ID: 7732202

Claim:
A method of producing human stem cells comprising: a) parthenogenetically activating a human oocyte, wherein activating comprises: i) contacting the oocyte with an ionophore at high O 2 tension and ii) contacting the oocyte with a serine-threonine kinase inhibitor under low O 2 tension; b) cultivating the activated oocyte of step (a) at low O 2 tension until blastocyst formation; c) transferring the blastocyst to a layer of feeder cells, and culturing the transferred blastocyst under high O 2 tension; d) mechanically isolating an inner cell mass (ICM) from trophectoderm of the blastocyst of step (c); and e) culturing the cells of the ICM of step (d) on a layer of feeder cells, wherein culturing step (e) is carried out under high O 2 tension, thereby producing human stem cells.