Stem cells (MSCs) and derived products present enormous potential for novel medical treatments.<\/p>\n\n
You’ve probably heard about mesenchymal stem cells in the news, and you may have wondered if they could help you or a loved one with a serious illness.<\/p>\n\n
You might wonder what stem cells are, whether it is fact or myth about their functions, how they are used to treat disease and injury, and why they are the subject of such vigorous debate.<\/p>\n\n
Medicine is currently shifting from the use of drugs to biological products, mainly of autologous origin for the treatment of many degenerative diseases.<\/p>\n\n
Here you will find some answers to the most frequently asked questions about stem cells, through this article written by Dr. Mat\u00edas Fern\u00e1ndez Vi\u00f1a, expert in Regenerative Medicine and Advanced Therapies.<\/p>\n\n
Stem cells are the raw material of the body; from them all other cells with specialized functions are generated.<\/p>\n\n
Under the right conditions in the body or in a laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells become new stem cells (self-renewal) or specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells, bone cells or cartilage-forming cells. No other cell in the body has the natural ability to generate new cell types. <\/p>\n\n
Why is there so much interest in mesenchymal stem cells?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Researchers and physicians hope that stem cell studies can help to:Increase understanding of how diseases occur. By watching stem cells mature into cells of bone, heart muscle, nerves, and other organs and tissues, researchers and physicians can better understand how diseases and conditions develop. <\/p>\n\n Generate healthy cells to replace diseased cells (regenerative medicine). Stem cells can be targeted to become specific cells that can be used to regenerate and repair diseased or damaged tissues in people. People who might benefit from stem cell therapies include those with: <\/p>\n\n Stem cells may have the potential to grow into new tissue for use in transplantation and regenerative medicine.<\/p>\n\n Researchers continue to expand knowledge about stem cells and their applications in regenerative and transplantation medicine.<\/p>\n\n Researchers have discovered several sources of stem cells:<\/p>\n\n These stem cells come from embryos that are three to five days old. At this stage, an embryo is called a blastocyst and has about 150 cells.These are pluripotent stem cells, which means they can divide into more stem cells or can become any type of cell in the body.These cells are only used for experiments and are not ethically accepted for use in people. <\/p>\n\n These stem cells are found in small amounts in most adult tissues, such as bone marrow or fat. Compared to embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have the capacity to treat a great many degenerative diseases. <\/p>\n\n Until recently, researchers thought that adult stem cells could only create similar types of cells. For example, researchers thought that stem cells residing in bone marrow could generate only blood cells; however, emerging evidence suggests that adult stem cells can create different types of cells, which is why they are called mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). For example, bone marrow stem cells could create bone or heart muscle cells.This research has led to early clinical trials to test the utility and safety in people. For example, adult stem cells are currently being tested in people with neurological or heart disease. <\/p>\n\n Embryonic stem cells are obtained from early-stage embryos, a group of cells formed when a woman’s egg is fertilized with a man’s sperm in an in vitro fertilization clinic. Because human embryonic stem cells are extracted from human embryos, several questions and issues have been raised about the ethics of embryonic stem cell research.The National Institutes of Health created guidelines for human stem cell research in 2009. The guidelines define embryonic stem cells and how they can be used in research, and include recommendations for embryonic stem cell donation. In addition, the guidelines state that embryonic stem cells from embryos created through in vitro fertilization can only be used when the embryo is no longer needed.Where do these embryos come from?The embryos used in embryonic stem cell research come from eggs that were fertilized in in vitro fertilization clinics but were never implanted in a woman’s uterus. The stem cells are donated with the informed consent of the donors. Stem cells can live and grow in special solutions in test tubes or Petri dishes in laboratories.<\/p>\n\n Although adult stem cell research is promising, adult stem cells may not be as versatile and durable as embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells may not be able to be manipulated to produce all cell types, which limits the way adult stem cells can be used to treat diseases.Adult stem cells are also more prone to alterations due to environmental hazards, such as toxins, or from errors acquired by the cells during replication. However, researchers have discovered that adult stem cells are more adaptable than first thought. <\/p>\n\n A stem cell line is a group of cells that come from a single original stem cell and are grown in a laboratory. The cells of a stem cell line continue to grow but do not differentiate into specialized cells. Ideally, they remain free of genetic defects and continue to create more stem cells. Groups of cells can be taken from a stem cell line and frozen for storage or shared with other researchers. <\/p>\n\n Stem cell therapy, also known as regenerative medicine, promotes the repair of diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissues using stem cells or their derivatives. It is the next chapter in organ transplantation and uses cells instead of donor organs, the supply of which is limited.Researchers grow stem cells in a laboratory. These stem cells are manipulated to specialize into specific types of cells, such as heart muscle cells, blood cells or nerve cells.The specialized cells can then be implanted into a person. For example, if the person has heart disease, the cells could be injected into the heart muscle. The transplanted healthy heart muscle cells could then help repair the defective heart muscle.Researchers have already shown that adult bone marrow cells guided to become heart-like cells can repair heart tissue in people, and more research is underway. <\/p>\n\n Yes. Doctors have performed stem cell transplants, also known as bone marrow transplants. In these transplants, stem cells replace cells damaged by chemotherapy or disease or serve as a way for the donor’s immune system to fight certain types of cancer and blood-related diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma. These transplants use adult stem cells or umbilical cord blood. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stem cells (MSCs) and derived products present enormous potential for novel medical treatments. You’ve probably heard about mesenchymal stem cells in the news, and you may have wondered if they could help you or a loved one with a serious illness. 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Where do stem cells come from?<\/h2>\n\n
– Embryonic stem cells.<\/h3>\n\n
– Adult stem cells.<\/h3>\n\n
Why are there controversies regarding the use of embryonic stem cells?<\/h2>\n\n
Why can’t researchers use adult stem cells?<\/h2>\n\n
What are stem cell lines and why do researchers want to use them?<\/h2>\n\n
What is stem cell therapy (regenerative medicine) and how does it work?<\/h2>\n\n
Have stem cells already been used to treat diseases?<\/h2>\n\n