Over thirty years ago, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Yale author, and the pediatric surgeon used to say, "As a surgeon, I cut into the body and rely on it to heal. I don't have to yell into the wound and tell it how." In fact, people have known for ages that the healing power of our own bodies is unparalleled. What they did not know at that time was that this miraculous power of healing comes with some simple cells.

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The fertilization of male and female gametes leads to the formation of a zygote. In the nine months leading up to the birth, the primal cells that make up the body differentiate to give rise to all our tissues and organs. Such cells which can divide and give rise to diverse cell types are called stem cells. An early staged embryo called blastocyst contains several pluripotent stem cells in its inner linings. Such cells have the potency to form any type of cell in the body. These types of cells are called “embryonic stem cells”.

 

They are usually derived from the leftover embryos after IVF treatments. However, the research and use of embryonic stem cells have always been a matter of ethical controversies. Moreover, although these are the most versatile cells of our body, it is very difficult to control them, which leads to the formation of teratoma in many cases.

The reason why Dr. Siegel never had to yell at the wound of an adult for healing was that the stem cells did that job for him.

 

The tissue damages in our bodies are taken care of by an orchestra of adult stem cells which play the symphony of repair. Our body naturally uses stem cells to replace worn-out cells when they die. For example, we completely repair the lining of our intestines every four days, as the old ones wear out. The SCs instrumental here is called the “Adult stem cells”. Scientists hope that we can exploit this nature of SCs for medication. As Dr. Neil Neimark, explains in his most distinguished ted talk, MSCs use signaling molecules that stimulate tissue healing.

 

Whenever there is damage in the body, the MSCs go to that area, survey it, collect data, and communicate with other cells are that area, to intelligently respond by releasing a variety of drug-like molecules that initiate the healing. Many researchers, therefore, refer to MSCs as ‘injury-specific receptors’, as they produce different molecules and differentiation patterns in accordance with the area of damage.

 

Nonetheless, it is difficult to access such stem cells for organs like the brain. A group of researchers produced induced pluripotent stem cells (SCs formed from differentiated cells) to solve this problem. With all such advancements going on, Crystal Ruff, strategy and business development executive, rightly calls stem cells the new internet of the future, as they may revolutionalize the entire concept of treatment just as the internet once revolutionalized every single aspect of the way we communicate.

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Unfathomable numbers of researchers, clinicians, doctors, etc are working to change the paradigm from reactive medicine to reparative medicine. They believe that the future beholds a whole new set of applications for stem cells, which can be used for treating serious conditions such as heart stroke, autism, autoimmune diseases, and many more. Perhaps the answer to all our medical problems will not be solved with a magic pill but a miraculous cell.