National Institute of Neurological Disorders Symposium explores promise of stem cell therapies
Monday, July 21st, 2008Stem cells have been hailed as a toolkit to treat a host of diseases, but at a recent National Institute of Neurological Disorders Symposium (NIH) symposium, researchers said they are still deciphering the toolkit’s instruction manual. Hosted by the NIH Stem Cell Task Force, “Challenges and Promise of Cell-Based Therapies” brought together about 400 scientists to discuss the clinical applications of embryonic and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem (ES) cells are pluripotent, meaning they give rise to all the cell types of the body. Stem cells are also found in adult tissues, but whether they are truly pluripotent is unknown. Read more: