# How exactly do stem cells work in treating diseases or injuries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166 "2006-09-02T04:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/1 "2006-09-02T04:35:53Z")
[This article describes what they are](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell) but now how they would work in curing diseases or fixing injuries like spinal cord damage. I keep hearing and reading about the huge potential of stem cells, but see almost nothing describing the specific way they would work in the human body. What is the process by which stem cells would (theoretically) effect a cure in fixing these ailments? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/2 "2006-09-02T04:56:13Z")
Well, stem cells are basically “blank” cells–that is, given the right chemical signals they can grow into nearly any type of cell in the body. One possible use would be growing replacement tissues or even whole organs. You could “grow” blood and not have to worry about a dwindling donated supply or infected donations. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/3 "2006-09-02T04:58:24Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Well, stem cells are basically “blank” cells–that is, given the right chemical signals they can grow into nearly any type of cell in the body. One possible use would be growing replacement tissues or even whole organs. You could “grow” blood and not have to worry about a dwindling donated supply or infected donations. [/QUOTE] So let’s say you want to re-grow a spinal cord. How would this work? You’ve got a flask of stem cells, now what? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/4 "2006-09-02T05:06:19Z")
[QUOTE=astro] So let’s say you want to re-grow a spinal cord. How would this work? You’ve got a flask of stem cells, now what? [/QUOTE] Well, I don’t think anyone’s done that yet or even attempted it. [Here](http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics6.asp) is a good article on the subject: > [@](#): > > Studies of human embryonic stem cells may yield information about the complex events that occur during human development. A primary goal of this work is to identify how undifferentiated stem cells become differentiated. Scientists know that turning genes on and off is central to this process. Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are due to abnormal cell division and differentiation. A better understanding of the genetic and molecular controls of these processes may yield information about how such diseases arise and suggest new strategies for therapy. A significant hurdle to this use and most uses of stem cells is that scientists do not yet fully understand the signals that turn specific genes on and off to influence the differentiation of the stem cell. So, basically we’d need to learn what signals we need to give the stem cells to make them grow a new spinal cord. We’re not quite there yet, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/5 "2006-09-02T05:10:21Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Well, I don’t think anyone’s done that yet or even attempted it. [Here](http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics6.asp) is a good article on the subject: So, basically we’d need to learn what signals we need to give the stem cells to make them grow a new spinal cord. We’re not quite there yet, apparently. [/QUOTE] Interesting … I though the “how to” was farther along than that given the hype level. Explains the lack of specificity. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/6 "2006-09-02T09:09:57Z")
Early experiments so far have involved taking your flask of stem cells and just packing them in around where the spinal cord is severed, on the assumption that they’ll bascially succumb to peer pressure. If they’re surrounded by nerve cells, there should be enough signals to turn them into nerve cells too. They’ve had some limited success. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-stem-cells-work-in-treating-diseases-or-injuries/371166/7 "2006-09-02T09:13:23Z")
I hit submit too soon. Obviously, we need to learn much more about how to make these cells do what we want them to do before we can really put them to work in a big way. This is why stem cell research is such a hot topic. To take another example, consider diabetes. I remember reading an article, oh, at least a decade ago, in which the authors showed that they could cure diabetes (in rats, I think) by implanting the rat with insulin-producing cells from another rat. The problem was that harvesting those cells is a difficult, time-producing process. If, on the other hand, we could grow them up in a vat, then boom!