Early embryonic cell fate decisions in the mouse / Yojiro Yamanaka and Amy Ralston -- Nuclear architecture in stem cells / Kelly J. Morris, Mita Chotalia and Ana Pombo -- Epigenetic regulation of pluripotency / Eleni M. Tomazou and Alexander Meissner -- Autosomal lyonization of replication domains during early mammalian development / Ichiro Hiratani and David M. Gilbert -- Preservation of genomic integrity in mouse embryonic stem cells / Peter J. Stambrook and Elisia D. Tichy -- Transcriptional regulation in embryonic stem cells / Jian-Chien, Dominic Heng and Huck Hui Ng -- Alternative splicing in stem cell self-renewal and differentiation / David A. Nelles and Gene W. Yeo -- MicroRNA regulation of embryonic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation / Collin Melton and Robert Blelloch -- Telomeres and telomerase in adult stem cells and pluripotent embryonic stem cells / Rosa M. Marión and Maria A. Blasco -- X chromosome inactivation and embryonic stem cells / Tahsin Stefan Barakat and Joost Gribnau -- Adult stem cells and their niches / Francesca Ferraro, Cristina Lo Celso and David Scadden -- Adult stem cell differentiation and trafficking and their implications in disease / Ying Zhuge, Zhao-Jun Liu and Omaida C. Velazquez -- Vertebrates that regenerate as models for guiding stem cells / Christopher L. Antos and Elly M. Tanaka -- Reprogramming of somatic cells to pluripotency / Masato Nakagawa and Shinya Yamanaka