Are stem cells currently being used to treat patients?
The best example of stem cell-based therapy is the transplantation of bone marrow stem cells for patients with leukaemia and other blood disorders. Another example of stem cell-based therapy is the use of skin biopsies that are expanded in the laboratory to treat patients with severe burns. For technical reasons, by far the majority, if not all, cell therapies require or will dramatically benefit from growing stem cells in the laboratory before use. The full promise of stem cell-based therapy is yet to be realised, as tissue stem cells cannot yet be grown well in the laboratory and the options available with human embryonic stem cells will need a great deal of further research and development.
