Can the body heal itself? The power of stem cells in a new era of healing

Stem Cells are cells that can self-renew and differentiate, this is crucial for the development of an organism as well as repair after injury (Mayo Clinic, no date). As a cornerstone of regenerative medicine, they offer innovative new solutions to treating diseases with limited treatment options such as restoring damaged organs and tissues (Wang et al. 2024).

Understanding Stem Cells

It is important to understand the different types of stem cell

• Multipotent: The ability to differentiate into more than one cell type in the body
• Pluripotent: The ability to differentiate into all of the various cell types in the body

Pluripotent and multipotent stem cells originate from different sources. Pluripotent stem cells are derived from early-stage human embryos, these are capable of dividing without differentiation and can develop into the primary three germ layers. In comparison, adult stem cells can only differentiate into the cell type of the tissue that they are found (Mayo Clinic, 2025). Researchers have developed an induced pluripotent stem cell, similar to embryonic stem cells, but, formed by transferring embryonic genes to a somatic cell (Mayo Clinic, 2025).

What is Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine is a branch of medicine that focuses on healing or replacing organs and tissues damaged by factors such as disease or trauma. ‘Healing’ is achieved by replacing missing tissue structurally or functionally using stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells induced pluripotent. This is achieved through materials as well as de novo-generated cells. It is also possible to leverage the body’s inate healing response, however humans lack regenerative capacity (Mao and Mooney, 2015). Regenerative medicine has the potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases as well as heart failure, for example.

Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine

Adult stem cells such as mesenchymal and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) , exhibit multilineage differentiation capacities as well as immunomodulatory properties (Li, Luanpitpong, and Kheolamai, 2022). There have been successful treatments using these stem cells for bone and cartilage regeneration as well as spinal cord injuries and diabetes (Hoang et al., 2022). allowing them to differentiate into required tissues and treat injuries, inflammation, and age-related disorders through regeneration of muscle, cartilage, and muscle regeneration. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and (iPSCs) can differentiate into any cell type so have a very high potential (Wang et al., 2024).

Challenges Associated

However, there remain risks associated with stem cell use such as a heightened risk of tumor formation, and immune rejection, and it’s not guaranteed that the cells will survive post-translation.

The treatments with the most therapeutic potential use embryonic stem cells, due to their pluripotency. However, the obtainment of ESCs is controversial due to the destruction of human embryos, many people object to religious and ethic principles (Margiana et al., 2022). Stem cell therapies also have a high cost meaning availability is restricted to wealthier patients (Hoang et al., 2022).

Conclusion

The advancement of regenerative medicine presents exciting opportunities such as within genetic modification, combining stem cells with drug delivery as well as biomaterial scaffolds (Li, Luanpitpong, and Kheolamai, 2022). However, currently stem cells remain at the forefront for conditions such as cardiovascular disease and organ regeneration. However, further research is needed to combat concerns such as immune rejection and tumor risks. For this treatment to become mainstream steps will have to be taken to address high costs and accessibility issues as well as the need for a global regulatory body to monitor its use.

Bibliography

Hoang, Duc M., Phuong T. Pham, Trung Q. Bach, Anh T. L. Ngo, Quyen T. Nguyen, Trang T. K. Phan, Giang H. Nguyen, et al. ‘Stem Cell-Based Therapy for Human Diseases’. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 7, no. 1 (6 August 2022): 1–41. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-022-01134-4.

Li, Jingting, Sudjit Luanpitpong, and Pakpoom Kheolamai. ‘Editorial: Adult Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine: From Cell Fate to Clinical Applications’. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 10 (31 October 2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2022.1069665.

Mao, Angelo S., and David J. Mooney. ‘Regenerative Medicine: Current Therapies and Future Directions’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 47 (24 November 2015): 14452–59. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1508520112.

Margiana, Ria, Alexander Markov, Angelina O. Zekiy, Mohammed Ubaid Hamza, Khalid A. Al-Dabbagh, Sura Hasan Al-Zubaidi, Noora M. Hameed, et al. ‘Clinical Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cell in Regenerative Medicine: A Narrative Review’. Stem Cell Research & Therapy 13, no. 1 (28 July 2022): 366. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-022-03054-0.

Mayo Clinic. ‘Answers to Your Questions about Stem Cell Research’. Accessed 5 March 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117.

Mayo Clinic. ‘Answers to Your Questions about Stem Cell Research’. Accessed 5 March 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117.

Wang, Jipeng, Gang Deng, Shuyi Wang, Shuang Li, Peng Song, Kun Lin, Xiaoxiang Xu, and Zuhong He. ‘Enhancing Regenerative Medicine: The Crucial Role of Stem Cell Therapy’. Frontiers in Neuroscience 18 (8 February 2024). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1269577.