Research in Cellular Biology

Scientific research into stem cells and their properties stretches back for over 40 years. However, humankind appears to have been aware of the regenerative properties of certain tissues for many millennia.

Hippocrates recorded that in the 4th century BC, doctors attempted to treat burns using rendered fatty tissue,

which we now know to be rich in regenerative cells.

The first organ transplant took place in 1954, but there were problems associated with cellular rejection.

Regenerative medicine began in earnest in 1968, with the first transplantation of bone marrow.

Since then, we have identified human stem cells in placental cord blood (in 1978),

and the first laboratory stem cell line was propagated in 1981.

The human genome project is an international scientific research between the United Kingdom, USA and China carried out between 1st October 1990 and 14th April 2003.its aim was to decipher the chemical makeup of the entire human genome, which provided us with the fundamental information about the human blueprint. Having discovered the human genome sequence, further research has identified genes, gene mutations and patterns of gene expressions that can cause disease. 

The study of Epigenetics has also given us insights into how we can change gene expression to reduce the risk of certain conditions.

"It is interesting that when we look back at the history of regenerative medicine, we see a great deal was written in ancient times. The human potential for regeneration was recorded in Greek mythology with Prometheus re-growing his liver after it had been pecked-out by an eagle."

-Dr Aamer Khan-

NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS

More recently it has been shown that given the right environment, adult skin cells that are 70 years old can go through a regression and become akin to ’embryonic’ stem cells.

This discovery resulted in the Nobel Prize in Medicine being awarded to Sir John B Gordon and Shinya Yamanaka in 2012 for demonstrating that mature cells can be reprogrammed in this way. Their finding was a game-changer that led us to re-evaluate the way that we look at regenerative medicine.

This was by no means the first Nobel Prize to be awarded for stem cell research. In 2007, Professor Mario Capecchi of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah was one of three scientists who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work within the field of genetic targeting. This included developing techniques for the recombination of embryonic stem cells.

Even more recently, we have seen Nobel Prizes awarded for the related cellular field of gene editing. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in October 2020 was shared by the French biochemist Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Professor Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, for their gene editing programme known as CRISPR. This technique could potentially in future be used to treat many hundreds of human medical conditions.

Below is a selection of other studies and research about stem cells and regenerative medicine that may be of interest.