Understanding Mature Tissue or Organ Stem Cells and Their Clinical …

Drawing on its increasing understanding of tissue or organ-specific stem cells , the institute is exploring the ability of these cells to replenish or repair damaged or congenitally abnormal tissues or organs. Tissue-specific stem cells may one day be used to replenish cells damaged by Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis or diabetes.

One example of tissue regeneration is in bone marrow transplants, where blood-forming stem cells regenerate the blood of transplant recipients who receive otherwise lethal doses of chemotherapy to destroy all the cancer cells in the body. Stanford was the first institution in the United States to use purified blood-forming stem cells rather than whole bone marrow transplants to regenerate the bone marrow in chemotherapy patients. By using purified stem cells rather than whole bone marrow taken from the patient before chemotherapy, doctors avoid re-injecting patients with their own cancer cells.

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Understanding Mature Tissue or Organ Stem Cells and Their Clinical ...