The Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cells
Many degenerative diseases and disorders are caused by the loss of normal cellular function in a particular organ. When cells are damaged or destroyed, they no longer produce, metabolize or accurately regulate the many substances essential to life. There is no existing pharmaceutical product or other technology available today that can deliver these essential substances precisely to the sites of action, under the appropriate physiological regulation, in the correct quantity or for the duration required to cure the degenerative condition. Cells, however, do all of this naturally.
Mature, functionally differentiated cells have lost the capacity for reproduction. Therefore, when such specialized cells are lost due to disease or damage, other mature cells cannot fill the gap. Stem cells, in contrast, are cells at an early stage of development, which have the ability to self-renew (that is, to reproduce themselves, dividing into two cells at least one of which is also a stem cell) for indefinite periods. They give rise to a number of different kinds of mature, functionally differentiated (specialized) cells. Transplantation of stem or “progenitor” cells (cells that have already developed from stem cells, but can still produce one or more mature cell types within an organ) may prevent the loss of, or even generate new, functional cells, which could lead to tissue and organ repair and, potentially, the restoration of a patient’s health.
Because of the self-renewal property of stem cells, a single transplantation treatment may have the potential to return an impaired organ to proper function for the life of the patient. This is the great promise of stem cells and the foundation of our therapeutic product development programs.