A population of stem/progenitor cells was selected from human cord blood non-hematopoietic (CD34 and CD45 negative) mononuclear fraction and was shown to attain neural features. Due to repeated expansion and selection of these cells in the presence of EGF we have established the first clonogenic, non-immortalized human umbilical cord blood neural stem cell line (HUCB-NSC).This cell line can be maintained in culture at different developmental stages and their fate decisions can be experimentally manipulated in vitro by the presence of trophic factors, mitogenes and neuromorphogenes. Standardized conditions for their growth and differentiation have been established.