Stem Cell Treatment: The Straight (if Circuitous) Way to a Cure
It is not surprising that people are eager to see the potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. People, especially the most ill, must realize that stem cells are not talismans. Stem cells may be useless or even harmful in unregulated clinical settings. This is the bad news. The good news: stem cells are revealing their profound, but not magical secrets.
Stem cells are no longer mysterious, but they have become more practical. The stem cells are more manageable units of biology that, with the proper preparation, can perform a wide range of therapeutic applications. They should be viewed as less miracle workers, and instead as drudges who accept reprogramming to perform their assigned tasks. It is possible that they may sacrifice a part of their multi-faceted identity to become cells more efficient (and safer) in therapeutic applications. Stemminess can be bypassed entirely, such as when cells are transdifferentiated directly from one type to another.
As stem cell preparation becomes more complex, it also becomes more streamlined and industrialized. Helping to advance both trends–greater refinement, greater manufacturability–is a new generation of biotech startups. This article describes several of these startups. These startups hope to expand the FDA-approved list of cell-based therapies by commercializing the latest technologies in stem cells.
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