Scientists hail breakthrough they claim is equal to the creation of anitbiotics to mend damaged hearts, heal strokes and cure blindness
- Stem cells were discovered by scientists in the 1960s in a major breakthrough
- The cells have enormous potential for the treatment of devastating conditions
- Scientists are working on techniques using the cells to help the body heal itself
- Some important stem cell therapies are already in use within the NHS
They are the building blocks of human life. And scientists are increasingly convinced that stem cells are set to revolutionise the entire spectrum of medicine, providing therapies for everything from cancer and heart disease to blindness and even paralysis.
Since they were first discovered in the 1960s, much has been written about these so-called master cells, which have an astonishing power to transform into any cell in the body.
Because of this, they have enormous potential for use in treatments for a range of devastating conditions.
Stem cells which were first discovered in the 1960s are being used to treat a range of previously incurable ailments
Professor Lord Robert Winston, pictured, said stem cells provide a remarkable opportunity to replace damaged liver cells, dead muscle cells after a heart attack and even neurons in the spine after an injury
Over the years, there has been scepticism about the hype surrounding stem cells, fuelled in part by unscrupulous private clinics which have been too quick to overstate the benefits of unproven treatments and offer them – often at an eye-watering cost – to vulnerable patients desperate for any glimmer of hope.
But today, advances in our understanding about how to harvest, manipulate and use stem cells to combat illness mean that we are on the cusp of a leap forward to rival the introduction of anaesthetics, antibiotics and organ transplants.
Professor Brendon Noble, the chief scientific officer at the UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF), which funds research into pioneering trials, says: ‘The potential is huge. Our ability to use stem cells to combat disease means there is genuine hope of moving away from treatment to cure.’
The tantalising future is one where the body’s own cells can repair damage caused by disease or injury, meaning that we can effectively cure ourselves. And some important stem cell therapies are already in use within the NHS.
Thousands of patients have benefited, with that number set to increase rapidly as exciting research continues.
Fertility expert Professor Lord Robert Winston, a trustee of UKSCF, says: ‘The existence of stem cells offers a remarkable opportunity. At the UKSCF, the only major charity raising much-needed funds for this research, we hope to replace damaged liver cells, dead muscle cells after a heart attack or neurons in the spine after injury.’
But he cautioned: ‘Fifty years after the first use of stem cells we have not solved all the problems raised by such regenerative medical treatments. People all over the world are working on research using stem cells for conditions like Parkinson’s and heart disease, often with mixed results.’
Still, many scientists and doctors agree that chances are that you will benefit from stem cells at some point in your life.
And this groundbreaking Mail on Sunday series, which will continue next week, will tell you everything you need to know.
So first, just what is a stem cell? To answer that question, we must go back to the very beginning: at three days after fertilisation, the foetus is simply a clump of 32 embryonic stem cells.
As the foetus develops, these building blocks multiply and transform into the hundreds of different specialist cells found throughout the body: in bones, blood, the lungs, the heart, the brain and so on.
Stem cells continue to live throughout the body – in our skin, muscles, fat, intestines and bone marrow – once we are born and until the day we die.
They are able to reproduce endlessly and are integral in allowing our bodies to grow and heal. These adult stem cells are ‘tissue specific’, which means blood stem cells, found in bone marrow, only become blood cells – although this could be the white blood cells of the immune system or red blood cells that carry oxygen.
Stem cells in the skin only become skin, hair or nails.
The idea is that by extracting stem cells from the body, they can be used as a source of replacement cells when parts become damaged or diseased.
These extracted cells can be grown and modified in a laboratory then transplanted, usually via an injection, back into the body so they integrate with tissue, aiding repair and regeneration. Either patients’ own stem cells are extracted, multiplied in a lab and then reintroduced into the body, or they can come from a donor – either a relative or a stranger.
Potential uses currently being investigated include breakthrough treatments for debilitating conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease, which are driven by the immune system turning against the body and attacking healthy tissue. In these cases, stem cells are used to replace the patients’ faulty immune cells with new ones.
The hope is this system ‘reboot’ will effectively cure the illness.
More recent advances mean adult stem cells can also be ‘reprogrammed’ in a lab to behave similarly to embryonic stem cells, which enables them to turn into any cell type in the body. These are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).
Excitingly, there is mounting evidence that any cell can be modified to become an iPS cell.
That means one day, a few skin cells could be extracted and used to help build a new heart, lungs, or other body part to be used in a transplant operation.
Many other ways of using stem cells to treat different diseases are undergoing clinical trials on patients, with encouraging results – with some now being approved to be given on the NHS.
The most promising applications are outlined right, and on the following page.
Given that this is such a new area of medicine, there are obvious concerns about the risks. Therapies which have gone through proper clinical trials are safe for patients, but those not subjected to rigorous tests may not be.
Some types of stem cells, such as iPS, have great potential but concerns still remain.
They appear to be prone to mutating, in some cases into tumours known as teratomas, and while some mutations may be harmless, others may not be.
Further tests are needed to fully understand how they can be used safely. Stem cells are just like new drugs – they must be rigorously tested before they can be used on patients.
And even if one patient has seen improvements in their condition, that is no indication that the same treatment will work identically well on another.
As Lord Winston says: ‘These are very complex areas, and again and again one has to say this technology is still very young indeed.
‘But today, what we can truly say is there is much promise.’
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