The present invention provides undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells, methods of cultivation and propagation and production of differentiated cells. In particular it relates to the production of human ES cells capable of yielding somatic differentiated cells in vitro, and committed progenitor cells such as neural progenitor cells capable of giving rise to mature somatic cells including neural cells and/or glial cells and uses thereof. The invention also provides methods that generate in vitro and in vivo models of controlled differentiation of ES cells towards the neural lineage. The model, and the cells that are generated along the pathway of neural differentiation may be used for the study of the cellular and molecular biology of human neural development, for the discovery of genes, growth factors, and differentiation factors that play a role in neural differentiation and regeneration, for drug discovery and for the development of screening assays for teratogenic, toxic and neuroprotective effects.