Perhaps what is most fascinating about the advancements in regenerative medicine is that despite the significant developments in the knowledge of stem cells and their clinical application, we are only scratching the surface when it comes to their potential therapeutic use. The main aims of stem cell research are regenerative medicine applications, disease modelling, drug screening, and human developmental biology. In recent years, reprogramming technology for generating iPSCs has been progressing gradually towards these aims. This technology expands on multiple fronts but has a prominent application in neuroscience to treat SCIs, brain damage, Alzheimer's disease, PD and also in cancer treatment. This has many benefits, including addressing cell shortages due to readily accessible forms of cells (e.g., fibroblasts from biopsied skin or urine samples), being reprogrammed in culture, and being optimized for clinical use, thereby eliminating or minimizing the need for immunosuppressive therapy and any related risks (42). Clinical use in patients is the main objective of stem cell research. There are many ongoing clinical trials of stem cells around the world including studies in bone / cartilage, heart, neurological, immune / autoimmune, kidney, lung, liver, gastrointestinal disease, and metabolic disease. HESC-and iPSC-derived drug studies based on SCI, PD, macular degeneration, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and serious heart failure are especially of interest (43). Organ transplantation is considered the final treatment for organ failure because there is a significant shortage of donors of organs, so transplantation requires matches between donor and recipient. Thus, an alternative cell and tissue source, such as iPSCs, may help solve these challenges. 3D stem cell structures designed with biomaterials and bio-printing technology can allow for future organ reconstruction (44). While complete, functional organs have yet to be reconstructed, parts of organs including partial livers, vasculature, and bones have been reconstructed (45).
Despite their undenied potential, stem cell research (especially embryonic stem cells) is currently limited in Europe and the US. Due to the highly controversial nature of the source of ESCs, they are incredibly difficult to obtain, and therefore research is equally problematic. Nevertheless, iPSCs have proven time and time again both their clinical and therapeutic applications in vastly different fields of medicine. It is vitally important to keep funding this highly specialized form of research, not only to further our understanding of the underlying molecular and genetic mechanisms which govern pluripotency, but also to extend and possibly one day allow this incredibly revolutionary technology to be readily available as a cure for multiple diseases.
David Rosales is an alumnus of St. Stephen's School, Rome, Italy. He graduated in 2019 with a BSc Hons in Biotechnology from the University of Manchester.