Cell therapy describes the process of introducing new cells into a tissue in order to treat a disease. Cell therapies often focus on the treatment of hereditary diseases, with or without the addition of gene therapy. Cell therapy is a sub-type of Regenerative Medicine.
Cell therapy, and other regenerative medicines such as tissue engineering, comprise a separate therapeutic platform technology to that of the current three pillars of healthcare: pharma, biologics and medical devices.
The transplantation of trans differentiated cells derived from the patient’s own differentiated cells. For example, the use of insulin-producing beta cells trans differentiated from isolated hepatocytes as a treatment for diabetes.
What is stem cell ?
Stem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells. In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells, which are found in various tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all the specialized cells (these are called pluripotent cells), but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.
