What Are Stem Cells?

Before diving into the function of R3 Stem Cells Centers of Excellence, let’s understand what stem cells are. Embryonic and adult stem cells are the two types of stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential to develop into any type of cell. However, researchers and healthcare experts have termed ESCs in the infancy phase of discovery.

As the embryo grows, cells become specialized, and this change is permanent. The unspecialized cells are adult stem cells. When a body part gets damaged, adult stem cells develop into specific types of cells to cure.

Dr. David Greene, Arizona, Establishes R3 Stem Cell

At Dr. David Greene, Arizona, R3 Stem Cell Centers of Excellence, healthcare experts of R3 offer cell treatments to help you achieve a healthy lifestyle. Thus, He is continues to research stem cells extensively to find a cure in the future.

R3 Stem Cell treatment is non-surgical and diagnostic imaging is used to ensure precision. In cases where surgery is unnecessary, stem cell treatments can help avoid complications.

A Brief History of Stem Cell

There isn’t one single discoverer of stem cells that accounts for data back to the 1800s and even further. However, the first successful medical procedure was a bone marrow transfusion in 1939.

Advances in immunology led to donor matching initially via family members. In 1970, unrelated donor matching flourished and gave rise to donor registries. In the 1980s, scientists identified embryonic stem cells in mice. This led to the 1997 cloning of Dolly.

Let’s delve into the breakthroughs in the field of stem cells recorded till 2016.

1998: Professor James Alexander Thomson grew the first human embryonic stem cells in a lab dish.

2001: Professor Christine Mummery used stem cells to create beating heart cells outside the body.

2002: Researcher Chunhui Xui found that human embryonic stem cells can be made to form heart muscle cells.

2004: Valerie Planat-Bernard found that heart-like cells can be made from fat cells.

2007: Researcher Dr. Shinya Yamanaka found that human skin cells can transform into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

2016: Research led by Dr. Jo Mountford is scaling up a generation of RBCs from stem cells to make a limitless supply of clean blood for transfusion.

What Is Next?

This question is almost impossible to answer due to the complex nature of these remarkable cells. Nevertheless, decades of research and study have allowed us to take a glimpse at the potential of stem cells to cure diseases. The potential treatment for multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and macular degeneration is years away from clinical use, but results are promising.

This cutting-edge regenerative medicine has many significant hurdles before future stem cell treatments reach the clinic. First, evidence-based science must be separated from misleading clinics to discover a cure. Then, only more research and continued investment can help mold the future of stem cell therapies to transform disease outcomes for millions of patients.