Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Treatment

Abstract

Regenerative medicine involves the use of stem cells to repair or replace damaged tissues. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells capable of differentiating into specialized types depending upon their origin. The purpose of this book chapter is to introduce stem cells, their characteristic features, source of stem cells, and their culturing and cryopreservation procedures. The important breakthrough in this field was Induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) and directed differentiation. IPSCs made it possible to use patient's cells for regenerative medicine and altogether preventing transplantation rejections. Stem cells have many applications in healthcare including tissue repair and regeneration, to generate disease models, drug testing and discovery and gene editing. Here in this chapter, the authors have discussed applications of stem cell therapy for treating Leukemia, autoimmune, eye diseases, skin disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and diabetic foot ulcers. The relevance of stem cells as disease models is becoming important as the use of animals in research is refrained and reduced.