Researchers from around the globe has attended a conference in Los Angeles to learn more about new treatment approaches for curing disease. Many of the attendees believe that stem cells may play a critical role in curing disease in the future.
Stem cells have the unique capacity of being able to change into other types of cells.
Researchers have discovered that they can control which types of cells stem cells will turn into. This gives them the ability to create new treatments that regenerate the body or target specific diseases.
Deepak Srivastava is one of the world’s leading stem cell experts. He has used stem cells to study early heart development and has reprogrammed stem cells to repair damage to heart tissue – a breakthrough that may someday help millions of people around the world with heart disease.
According to Dr. Srivastava, some of the most exciting stem cell research projects involve using stem cells to regenerate organs like the heart, which have no capacity to regenerate themselves. If a patient has a heart attack that causes scarring, their heart would be permanently damaged. Scientists like Dr. Srivastava believe that stem cells can be used to create new heart cells which can regenerate the heart muscle tissue and restore lost function.
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Read More:
The Lifesaving Power of Stem Cells
Stem Cells: The Building Blocks of the Human Body
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Dr. Srivastava says that some diseases may be treated by using a combination of stem cells and gene editing. Sickle cell anaemia, for example, could be treated by reverting a patient’s blood cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, then using gene editing to fix the genetic aberration that causes the condition. Once the genetic anomaly is repaired, doctors could use the embryonic stem cells to generate blood-forming stem cells, which would be transplanted into the patient’s body to cure the condition.
Another incredible stem cell breakthrough that has happened in recent years is the growth of organoids. They are 3-dimensional organs that are grown in a laboratory using stem cells. Researchers have already managed to grow organoids that work like a real heart, cornea, or kidney in a laboratory setting. If this technique can be perfected, doctors will be able to grow new organs from a patient’s own stem cells.
Source: When it Comes to Disease, Stem Cells are a Game-Changer, Scientists Say
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