Nearly twenty-five years ago, University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher James Thomson described the first successful derivation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). These cells, which are pluripotent, meaning they can form any cell type and self-renewing, meaning they can grow indefinitely in culture, changed the way diseases are understood and treated. While the past two decades have included dramatic advances, there is still much to learn, and clinical trials are just beginning for a variety of degenerative diseases. Dr. Kamp outlines the opportunities, challenges, and the history of stem cell research in his column “Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine: A long, but promising road” available on page 40 of the spring 2022 Quarterly magazine.
Read the full article at: https://www.med.wisc.edu/media/medwiscedu/documents/quarterly/Quarterly-Vol-24-No-1.pdf