What an exciting year in stem cell science and translational medicine! STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM) and its sister journal, STEM CELLS (www.Stemcells.Com, @StemCellsJournal), with its focus on a better understanding of stem cell function, continued to publish remarkable, groundbreaking findings that are moving the field forward. And, in the regulatory arena, the U.S. Food and Drug A...

Stem cells: Researchers working with stem cells at the James Martin 21st Century School in Oxford. (Photo: William James.) Recent years have seen dramatic progress in the production and understanding of pluripotent cells, which, researchers hope, will ultimately provide the option of creating replacement cells, tissues or organs in the laboratory. There are currently three potential access rout...

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was discovered in 1984 as a molecular entity of hepatic regeneration factor, which had long been sought after. In ensuing studies, HGF has been proven to enhance the growth and motility of hepatocytes and other functional cells and to induce morphogenesis represented by tubular structures. Furthermore, HGF is endowed with potent anti-apoptotic activity, thereby pr...

On November 16, 2017, the US FDA announced a comprehensive policy framework for the development and oversight of regenerative medicine products, including novel cellular therapies. This risk-based framework includes a suite of guidance documents focusing on safety and effectiveness of these therapies, and reiterates FDA’s commitment to bring new effective therapies to patients as quickly and sa...

Tissue engineering is an important technology for supporting regenerative medicine, producing tissues in incubation bottles in a tissue culture laboratory. In addition, a newer approach to regeneration of tissues in the human body, called in situ tissue engineering, has been devised in Japan and is attracting attention as a new means of bringing out our body’s potential. New therapeutic methods...

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA; The Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research, Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Généthon, INSERM UMR 951, Evry, France Correspondence to: Martin K....

The Regenerative Medicine Foundation Annual Conference held on May 6 and 7, 2014, had a vision of assisting with translating tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM)-based technologies closer to the clinic. This vision was achieved by assembling leaders in the field to cover critical areas. Some of these critical areas included regulatory pathways for regenerative medicine therapies,...

Stem cells have been identified and isolated in many adult tissues. They exhibit a great plasticity and the ability to give rise to differentiated cells of several lineages. The possibility of transplantation of these stem cells into an adult to develop, integrate and rebuild destroyed tissues or organs has encouraged the study of the mechanisms of the differentiation of stem cells. These cells...

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