StemCell Therapy

These heart cells were grown from mouse stem cells.

Stem cells have captured the public's attention because of their potential to revolutionize ourtreatment of many debilitating diseases and injuries. Using stem cells, we may someday be able to repair spinal cord injuries or replace diseased organs, although such therapeutic treatments are probably a long way off. The study of stem cells is relatively newthey were discovered in 1976, and human embryonic stem cells finally isolated in 1998so scientists still have much to learn about them.

Right now, researchers are still learning how to generate and grow stem cells. But simply knowing how to culture the cells in the lab isnt enough. Scientists also need to understand and control how stem cells differentiate to become specific cell types. If researchers can decode the signals that govern differentiation, they may be able to take charge of the process, directing a culture of cells to become a specific cell typeheart, neuron, skin, liver, or whatever kind is needed.

Cultivation of stem cells from days-old embryos

Progress....and hurdles

Treatments for a few particular diseases have emerged as exciting possibilities on the forefront of stem cell research. Parkinsons results from the death of a specific type cell in the brain. Scientists have succeeded in easing the condition in rats by injecting them with embryonic stem cells that then turned into the missing neurons. Researchers hope to develop a similar treatment for diabetes, which is caused by the destruction of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Though there has been progress in developing new stem cell-based therapies, researchers caution that many hurdles remain. For example, its unclear whether implanted stem cells can, after differentiating, revert to their previous state and then cause cancer. Another problem involves our natural immune response to foreign cells in the body. Patients currently receiving stem cell treatments, such as bone marrow transplants, must take drugs to prevent their immune system from attacking the newly introduced cells. Scientists may be able to address this problem by creating banks of embryonic stem cells, each of which is slightly different genetically. The cells best suited to a patients genetic makeup would then be used to grow new cells for transplantation, in hopes that this would lessen the immune response.

Embryonic stem cells can be grown in culture dishes. A pinkish solution provides the sugars and other compounds the cells need to grow.

Next: Looking forward

Go here to read the rest:
Microscope Imaging Station. Stem Cells: Cells with potential.

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