Stem cell therapy

There are three known accessible sources of autologous adult stem cells in humans:
• Bone marrow, which requires extraction by harvesting, that is, drilling into bone (typically the femur or iliac crest).
• Adipose tissue (lipid cells), which requires extraction by liposuction.
• Blood, which requires extraction through, apheresis, wherein blood is drawn from the donor (similar to a blood donation), and passed through a machine that extracts the stem cells and returns other portions of the blood to the donor.
Stem cells can also be taken from umbilical cord blood just after birth. Of all stem cell types, autologous harvesting involves the least risk. By definition, autologous cells are obtained from one's own body, just as one may bank his or her own blood for elective surgical procedures.
Stem cells can now be artificially grown and transformed (differentiated) into specialized cell types with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves.
Embryonic cell lines and autologous embryonic stem cells generated through Somatic-cell nuclear transfer or dedifferentiation have also been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies.
Research into stem cells grew out of findings by Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till at the University of Toronto in the 1960s.

Diseases and conditions where stem cell therapy is being investigated include:
• Diabetes
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Parkinson's disease
• Alzheimer's disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Stroke and traumatic brain injury repair
• Learning defects
• Spinal cord injury repair
• Heart infarction
• Anti-cancer
• Baldness
• Replace missing teeth
• Repair hearing
• Restore vision
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Crohn's disease
• Wound healing