Stem cells are essentially cells we have in our bodies that can be transformed into any other tissue and since they carry our own DNA, if we're able to do just that in a controlled fashion, we can replace other tissues that have been damaged or are missing (as in the case of losing skin (epithelial cells) or even an organ.
Well, thanks to a better understanding of how the cell works and stem cells in general, we are now on our way to be able to cure degenerative auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) by sectioning and curating a patient's healthy bone marrow stem cells to replace the damaged immune system.
We can reprogram a patient's stem cells and place them in the joints of arthritis patients so that the cells start repairing damaged cartilage and make the pain go away.
Need a new organ? We're working on ways to use stem cells to grow new organs too. This is in my opinion a better option than the 3D printed organs we're also experimenting with, as mentioned in a past blog). Growing an organ uses the DNA road map within our cells to make an organ but takes time to grow. Meanwhile 3D printing an organ could potentially be way faster but perhaps create organs that are less cohesive on a cellular level that one that is slowly grown properly.
One of the most interesting and innovative devices I've seen in medicine recently though, is a bio-chip that delivers specific macro-molecules, such as DNA and perhaps others, to reprogram skin cells to become other types of cells that are needed more at a certain location on the body. Based on my reading, one only need to touch the chip on the problem area, on the skin, and cells below the skin in connected to the touched area receives the chip's instructions and starts to properly reprogram themselves to become other cell types, such as blood vessels, muscle tissue etc... The team working on this from Ohio State University's College of Engineering and Wexner Medical Center also say they've done tests to reprogram cells into neurons. All of this works well in trial on animals such as mice and there is great hope that it would work on humans too.
I elaborate more about what this means for the future of our health in the video below:
Suffice to say that the manipulation of the cells of the patients, whether they be stem cells, skin cells or other cells, to create new health tissues where it is most needed, is definitively key to eradicating some truly serious issues, including auto-immune diseases, serious injuries, organ failures or loss, and many other conditions that up until now could only be controlled in some way.
We're on a very interesting path where we are able to use medical technology to fix complex biological systems like the human body in much the same way as we fix cars nowadays. Got some problem? Not feeling well? Use a smartphone application to self-diagnose first, then go to the clinic for a second opinion and to get the appropriate body part fixed or changed for a new one (from your own cell stock). You leave the clinic feeling better and with perhaps a brand new fully functional part, ready to take on the day.
Think it's fantasy? It really isn't.
Are we there yet? Not quite. This is all experimental and going to clinical trials. However, in about 10 years from now, the notion of fixing your body like bringing your car to the body shop won't sound so science fiction at all.
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