Japan accelerates innovative stem cell therapies with first human heart trials
iPSCs, which can be coaxed to become different types of mature cells, have a lot of potential for regenerative medicine. One of the possibilities is the repair of damaged hearts. This will be tested for the first ever time in Japan in a newly approved clinical trial.
Since 2006, when iPSCs were discovered in the Japanese laboratory of Shinya Yamanaka, researchers have explored the potential of iPSCs in a variety of promising research projects. They have been used to restore rabbits’ vision, as brain tumor-predators, and even to create human organ precursors.
IPSCs can be created by harvesting cells and tissues from the body, then infecting those cells with a virus. They are then introduced to carefully selected genes to return them to an immature stage. The cells can then develop into any type of cell in the human body. This capability was so powerful that it won Yamanaka the Nobel Prize for 2012.
Source:
https://newatlas.com/japan-stem-cell-therapy-hearts/54866/
