In culture, when immortalized normal or transformed human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) are stimulated to undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), the transition confers stem-like cell properties upon normal or transformed epithelial cells in culture, partly because the cells acquire a CD44+/CD24 (low) phenotype, similar to breast cancer stem cells. The gene discussed is CD24; the disease is breast cancer.