I have been receiving many questions related to stem cell-based therapy for Wolfram syndrome and diabetes. I would like to share these questions and my answers with you.
Q: What are stem cells?
A: Stem cells are a type of cells that have potential to develop into many different cell types, including insulin producing cells and eye cells, in our body. There are two types of stem cells that can be utilized for treatment. These are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and embryonic stem cells (ES cells).
iPS cells are derived from skin fibroblasts. These cells may be useful for designing personalized medicine. ES cells are derived from fertilized eggs. My team is focusing on iPS cells derived from patients’ skin cells because of many reasons.
Thank you for reading this. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I am sending kind thoughts toward you.
Take care,
Fumi Urano