Open AccessStem cell therapy - Hype or hope? A review
Author(s) -
Roopa R Nadig
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of conservative dentistry/journal of conservative dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 0974-5203
pISSN - 0972-0707
DOI - 10.4103/0972-0707.58329
Subject(s) - stem cell , regenerative medicine , regeneration (biology) , stem cell therapy , engineering ethics , stem cell biology , medicine , environmental ethics , neuroscience , biology , engineering , philosophy , microbiology and biotechnology , embryo , reproductive technology , embryogenesis
While the regeneration of a lost tissue is known to mankind for several years, it is only in the recent past that research on regenerative medicine/dentistry has gained momentum and eluded the dramatic yet scientific advancements in the field of molecular biology. The growing understanding of biological concepts in the regeneration of oral/dental tissues coupled with experiments on stem cells is likely to result in a paradigm shift in the therapeutic armamentarium of dental and oral diseases culminating in an intense search for "biological solutions to biological problems." Stem cells have been successfully isolated from variety of human tissues including orofacial tissues. Initial evidence from pioneering studies has documented the likely breakthrough that stem cells offer for various life-threatening diseases that have so far defeated modern medical care. The evidence gathered so far has propelled many elegant studies exploring the role of stem cells and their manifold dental applications. This review takes you on a sojourn of the origin of stem cells, their properties, characteristics, current research, and their potential applications. It also focuses on the various challenges and barriers that we have to surmount before translating laboratory results to successful clinical applications heralding the dawn of regenerative dentistry.