How stem cells specialise

Scientists will need much more information about the basic signals that regulate how stem cells renew themselves, and how they specialise to become other cells. Cells in the brain are some of the most intricate and highly specialised cells in the body, and repairing the injured nervous system in neurological disease like MS is a huge challenge. 

How stem cells are transplanted

Scientists need to work out the ideal stem cell source for transplantation, the best route for transplanting cells and how they can be made to survive and then flourish when transplanted. There needs to be much more research to understand how the body’s immune system will respond to transplanted cells. Researchers also need to understand how stem cell treatments fit in with the body over time, for example, how they can remain safe and not form tumours. 

Stem cell research, the media and the future

  Scientists believe it is right to remain enthusiastic about the potential of stem cells, but they caution that practical treatments for MS and other conditions remain some years away. There are frequent media reports of advances and setbacks in stem cell research. Some of the advances in stem cell science from research about one condition will transfer to other conditions because they contribute to our general understanding of how stem cells work. But stem cell science in MS will require a different knowledge base to stem cell science in spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes, for example.

Sometimes, too, a setback affects stem cell research in all areas. The South Korean scientist, Dr Hwang, claimed to have developed pluripotent stem cells from cloned human embryos, so that the cells matched individual patients, but it turns out that his results were fake.