Are there any stem cell therapies currently available?
The first trials for embryonic stem cells have only just begun. Results from those won’t be available for many years, once the necessary clinical trials are completed showing that the therapies are safe and that the work in treating disease. The only stem cell-based therapy currently in use is in bone marrow transplantation. Blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow were the first stem cells to be identified and they are now the first to be used in the clinic. The blood-forming stem cell is the component of bone marrow that is therapeutic in a bone marrow transplant. With the isolation of pure blood-forming stem cells it is now possible to transfer just the cells that are needed to replace the bone marrow. The cells migrate to appropriate bone marrow where they self-renew and rebuild the entire blood system. Transplants of blood-forming stem cells have been used successfully in cancer treatments, and research suggests that they will be useful in treating autoimmune diseases and in he
