Review
Stem cell biology and drug discovery
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Corresponding authors: Lee L Rubin lee_rubin@harvard.edu - Kelly M Haston kelly_haston@harvard.edu
Dept of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USA
BMC Biology 2011, 9:42 doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-42
Published: 7 June 2011Abstract
There are many reasons to be interested in stem cells, one of the most prominent being their potential use in finding better drugs to treat human disease. This article focuses on how this may be implemented. Recent advances in the production of reprogrammed adult cells and their regulated differentiation to disease-relevant cells are presented, and diseases that have been modeled using these methods are discussed. Remaining difficulties are highlighted, as are new therapeutic insights that have emerged.