Human Stem Cells Used in Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

In recent years stem cells have been the subject of many experiments and research projects. It has long been known that stem cells have the ability to differentiate into many different cells; but not much was known about where to obtain these miracle cells. The most immediate answer was Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC) however; recent discoveries have broadened our understanding of stem cells and the multiple tissues and organs that they can be harvested. The possibilities for uses of stem cells are seemingly endless, ranging from bone regeneration, treatments for many cancers and diseases, and many more (Estrela et al., 2011). Much is still to be discovered about stem cells however, promising discoveries are being made in the field of tissue regeneration in the form of wound closure, dental regeneration, and bone regeneration. Stem cells are being used paired with special scaffolds that may soon be able to be used as replacements for lost teeth and bones. Tissue regeneration using stem cells shows promising implications in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease (Vakhrushev et al., 2012). Much research is still to be done as tissue regeneration has only been done on a small scale in labs, with little or no in vivo experiments being done yet.