Abstract
In 2002, researchers at UCLA published a manuscript in Molecular Biology of the Cell describing a novel adult stem cell population isolated from adipose tissue-the adipose-derived stem cell (ASC). Since that time, the ASC has gone on to be one of the most popular adult stem cell populations currently being used in the stem cell field. With multilineage mesodermal potential and possible ectodermal and endodermal potentials also, the ASC could conceivably be an alternate to pluripotent ES cells in both the lab and in the clinic. In this retrospective article, a historical perspective on the ASC is given together with exciting new applications for the stem cell being considered today.