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A revolutionary stem-cell therapy must proceed responsibly to achieve its full potential
nature.com • • science
Key Points:
- Shinya Yamanaka, Nobel laureate and stem-cell researcher, has pioneered the development of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which can be reprogrammed to become various healthy tissues to treat diseases.
- Twenty years after his groundbreaking 2006 discovery, iPS-cell therapies for conditions like Parkinson’s disease and heart failure have received conditional approval in Japan, with clinical trials ongoing worldwide.
- Despite rapid progress, researchers emphasize the importance of cautious and responsible development to ensure safety, as improperly reprogrammed stem cells can cause tumors.
- Efforts are underway to create off-the-shelf iPS-cell therapies from donor cells to reduce costs and improve accessibility, addressing the challenges of personalized treatments being too slow and expensive.
- Yamanaka stresses that translating stem-cell research into therapies is a long-term endeavor requiring patience and focus on patient benefit, likening it to a marathon rather than a sprint.
