Stem cells are primitive, unspecialized, cells that have the capacity to self-renew and to differentiate into mature, specialized cells. Depending on their source, human stem cell preparations are called embryonic stem cells or adult stem cells.

Human embryonic stem cells were first derived from human blastocysts in 1998. They are pluripotent, meaning they can become any of the more than 200 known differentiated cell types of the human body. Embryonic stem cells are found in the embryo about five days after conception. Embryonic stem cells can only be recovered from this very early stage embryo. Adult stem cells, also known as somatic stem cells, exist in many tissues of the human body (in vivo) at any stage after birth (newborn to adult), and are the body’s own mechanism for tissue turnover and regeneration to repair specific damage or normal ‘wear and tear’. Adult stem cells in the human body are quite rare compared to the other types of cells and often are difficult to identify, isolate and purify. Most simply, these cells are identified by protein markers on their surface, such as CD34 on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), one category of adult stem cells. Unlike other types of cells found in the body, stem cells retain a greater ability to divide throughout life, as well as create new kinds of more specialized cells.

Stem cells from bone marrow have been studied since the 1960’s and are routinely used clinically to restore various blood and immune components to a patient’s bone marrow via transplantation after chemotherapy or radiotherapy. There are two major types of stem cells found in bone marrow: hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) which generate blood and immune cells, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are the precursors of bone, cartilage, fat and muscle.

Stem cell therapy is a type of cell therapy that utilizes stem cells to regenerate or induce repair of damaged tissue.

Proven and potential clinical benefits underlie the strong interest in stem cells and stem cell therapy. In 1968, bone marrow was first used to source HSCs for transplantation to regenerate a patient’s blood and immune system after wiping out the patient’s own, diseased marrow by myeloablative conditioning. Currently there have been successful adult stem cell therapy treatments in more than 90 medical indications ranging from cancers, where it is the standard of care for certain diseases, to myocardial infarction (after a heart attack) using bone marrow and peripheral blood (blood that circulates in the body) as the source for HSCs, and several MSC products-based treatments are in clinical trials. Recent scientific and clinical developments show that when MSCs are released into the body in a therapeutic amount, the cells have the capacity to locate and travel to sites of tissue injury, and once there, they can respond to local signals from the ailing cells and release proteins and other compounds that can exert a local beneficial effect. These released compounds in turn help to dampen the inflammation and call into the area the patient’s own cells and molecules that can then perform the tissue repair and replacement.

At least 300 million people in the U.S., E.U. and Japan have medical conditions that could potentially benefit from known stem cell therapeutics currently in development. The success of therapy with bone marrow is encouraging much research and commercial technology to focus on identifying other types of non-marrow adult stem cells that show promise for therapeutic use in tissue regeneration but can be made more readily accessible for a variety of patients. Examples of other sources of adult stem cells include the umbilical cord tissue and the cord blood, the placenta and even fat.

Additionally, adult stem cells are being utilized currently to enhance other proven medical methods of addressing diseases and organ degeneration, in combination with chemotherapy, pharmaceutical drugs, organ transplants and orthopedic scaffolds.

With continued advances in the industry, adult stem cell therapy is poised to become one of the most effective and cost efficient methods of medical treatment as it capitalizes on the body’s natural healing program to restore tissue function.