Embryonic Stem Cell Heart Therapy
Express India reports on animal trials of regenerative medicine for the heart based on the use of embryonic stem cells. "An important aspect of their study was that the embryonic stem cells used in the research were not completely undifferentiated. They had been guided or coaxed into developing into heart cells before they were transplanted in the sheep. ... They are not fully differentiated. They will complete their maturation and their differentiation in vivo, once grafted into the heart ... I think that overall the (scientific) community has recognised the limitations of adult stem cells with regard to plasticity. If you really want to make cardiac cells you probably have to rely on embryonic stem cells." Adult stem cell therapies probably work via other means, as recent studies demonstrate.