About the Authors

Kristiina Rajala

kristiina.m.rajala@regea.fi

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Bettina Lindroos

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Samer M. Hussein

Affiliation Biomedicum Stem Cell Center and Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Riikka S. Lappalainen

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Mari Pekkanen-Mattila

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Jose Inzunza

Affiliation Division of Medical Nutrition, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Björn Rozell

Affiliation Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Susanna Miettinen

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Susanna Narkilahti

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Erja Kerkelä

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Katriina Aalto-Setälä

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Timo Otonkoski

Affiliation Biomedicum Stem Cell Center and Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

Riitta Suuronen

Affiliations Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland, Department of Eye, Ear and Oral Diseases, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Outi Hovatta

Affiliation Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Heli Skottman

Affiliation Regea - Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Competing Interests

The authors Kristiina Rajala, Riitta Suuronen, Outi Hovatta, and Heli Skottman declare competing financial interests defined as patent application, formulation and methods for culturing embryonic stem cells, PCT/FI2008/050331 - PCT, relating to the xeno-free culture medium described in the article.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KR SM SN EK KAS RS OH HS. Performed the experiments: KR BICL SH RL MPM JI BR HS. Analyzed the data: KR BICL RL MPM JI BR. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TO OH. Wrote the paper: KR SH JI SM SN EK KAS TO RS OH HS.