Comments on Stem Cells, Heart Regeneration

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Some commentary from one of The Scientist blogs: "The Keystone Symposium I'm at this week in Santa Fe is billed as being about two related subjects: the molecular mechanisms of cardiac disease and the molecular mechanisms of regeneration ... the use of stem cells to regenerate the heart is already the loud buzz at poster sessions, and is at least a whisper in talks whose subjects suggest they about pure molecular mechanisms. ... I want to inject a note of caution. The ongoing clinical studies essentially support not the differentiation of stem cells into beating cardiomyocytes, but a paracrine effect. ... It may not be the stem cells themselves, but some factors they secrete, or an environment they create."

Link: http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/23141/