© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 181
P.V. Pham (ed.), Stem Cell Processing, Stem Cells in Clinical Applications,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40073-0_9
Chapter 9
Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Associated
Clinical Concerns
Deepak M. Kalaskar and Saiyyada Mohsina Shahid
9.1 Introduction
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with the capacity to self-renew. Various differ-
ent types of stem cells have been recognised depending on where in the body or
what stage of development they come from (see Table 9.1 ). When exposed to the
right signals under the right conditions, they can differentiate into any desired cell
type found in the body such as heart, muscle and skin cells (Department of Health
and Human Services 2001 ). With the potential to produce mature specialised cells
with specifi c functions, stem cells are of great interest for stem cell-based therapy.
Using stem cells, multiple therapeutically useful cell types can be made and then
used to treat numerous diseases including cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabe-
tes and heart failure (Mimeault et al. 2007 ).
With their unique characteristics, stem cells can be used in cell therapy and drug
discovery and to expand our knowledge of the human body. Cell therapy makes use
of stem cells, or cells grown from stem cells, to regenerate damaged tissue. As an
alternative, researchers are now looking for drugs which can stimulate the body’s
own stem cells to repair an injury rather than laboriously growing cells in vitro and
transplanting them. It is thought that many of the body’s tissues contain stem cells
capable of dividing to make new tissue, but this does not happen naturally and the
cells need to be prompted (Pearson 2006 ). Alongside cell therapy, the use of stem
cells can transform drug discovery and validity. Accurate human disease models,
representative of diseases, can be made and used to fully understand underlying
mechanisms. Moreover, disease-specifi c ES cells obtained from patients can be
made to differentiate into various cell types affected in the disease; these can then
D. M. Kalaskar (*) • S. M. Shahid
Centre for Nanotechnology and Tissue Engineering , UCL Division of Surgery and
Interventional Science , 9th Floor, Royal Free Campus, Rowland Hill Street,
London NW3 2PF , UK
e-mail: [email protected]