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The King is Dead, Long Live the King: Entering A New Era of Stem Cell Research.Journal of Translat. Med. 2011, 9:218
Thomas Ichim1, Neil H Riordan2, David F Stroncek3*
1MediStem Inc., San Diego, CA, USA, 2Aidan Foundation, Chandler, AZ, USA, and 3Department of
Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
*Corresponding author
DFS: dstroncek@cc.nih.gov
Abstract
In mid November the biopharma industry was shocked by the announcement from Geron that they
were ending work on embryonic stem cell research and therapy. For more than 10 years the public
image of all stem cell research has been equated with embryonic stem cells. Unfortunately, a
fundamentally important medical and financial fact was being ignored: embryonic stem cell therapy
extremely immature. In parallel to efforts in embryonic stem cell research and development, scientists
and physicians in the field of adult stem cells realized that the natural role of adult stem cells in the body
is to promote healing and to act like endogenous ?repair cells? and, as a result, numerous companies
have entered the field of adult stem cell therapy with the goal of expanding numbers of adult stem cells
for administration to patients with various conditions. In contrast to embryonic stem cells, which are
extremely expensive and potentially dangerous, adult cell cells are inexpensive and have an excellent
safety record when used in humans. Many studies are now showing that adult stem cells are a practical,
patient-applicable, therapeutics that are very close to being available for incorporation into the practice
of medicine. These events signal the entrance of the field of stem cells into a new era: an era where
hype and misinformation no longer triumph over economic and medical realities.
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