Stem Cell Tourism Research Articles

Announcing a New Open Access Journal: Cell Medicine, Part B of Cell Transplantation.

Cell therapy in medicine elicits equal jubilation and pessimism. The notion that the diseased or aging cell can be replaced with a healthy cell, in particular the use of a pluripotent stem cell, has challenged the dogma of the nonregenerative status of mature cells. To this end, a long list of new stem cell sources has emerged, including those derived from the embryo, fetus, umbilical cord, placenta, amnion, bone marrow, adipose, skin, and menstrual blood. The derivation of a patient-specific set of stem cells is key to the success of cell medicine. However, the inadvertent entry of cell therapy into the clinic in the absence of solid scientific evidence, clinical guidance, and regulatory oversight has seriously hampered the realization of the true potential of cell medicine. Indeed, “stem cell tourism” has become an international business enterprise that has put the patient in unregulated medical treatment (see 2008 Guidelines for the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells, International Society for Stem Cell Research; www.isscr.org/clinical_trans/pdfs/ISSCRGLClinicalTrans.pdf). We recognize the need to expedite the translation of laboratory findings into clinical application, in view of the debilitating and many times fatal human disorders that may benefit from cell medicine. Accordingly, we sought a platform wherein the three important translational research components—namely the academic institution, the biomedical company, and the regulatory agencies—have an equal footing in providing a critical input on the science, as well as the safety and efficacy of this therapy. A careful examination of currently available journals reveals that there exists a limited open access communication among these three translational research components, in that most of the peer-reviewed journals cater to research experiments from the academicians, with an increasing number of studies conducted under a translational theme whereby a collaborative effort between a university and a biomedical company is apparent. In addition, many professional societies, such as the Cell Transplant Society and American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair, have been equally keen in forging ahead with translational medicine, and are yearning for a translational journal that publishes peer-reviewed proceedings and papers arising from their annual meetings. More unfortunate is that many experimental data from the biomedical companies, as well as the clinical guidelines issued by the regulatory agencies, appear as in-house or interagency manifestos. In our desire to advance cell medicine to the clinic, we are launching a new journal Cell Medicine, Part B of Cell Transplantation (the subtitle to reflect that it is from the same stable as Cell Transplanation). Along the line of promoting the theme of translational research, we will build an Editorial Board consisting of academicians, biomedical experts, and regulatory administrators, who are specifically engaged in the science and translation of a cell product emerging from the laboratory to the clinic. Thus, Cell Medicine will allow Cell Transplantation to significantly increase its Editorial Board affiliation. Our overarching goal is to solicit and process, under rigorous, but fair and rapid peer review, those papers on cell therapy with direct clinical relevance. We are aware that translational studies are “milestone-driven” as opposed to routinely “mechanism-driven” experiments; thus, this further distinguishes our journal as we understand the difficulty in getting published in regular journals with strong emphasis on the latter aspect of scientific investigation. Moreover, we propose that an editorial commentary from the assigned handling editor to accompany many outstanding articles in order to outline the next steps necessary for the transition of the study under investigation closer to clinical application. We envision that this unique journal will facilitate the critical evaluation of cell medicine as a safe and an effective treatment for human disorders. Cell Medicine will be an online-only journal, with focused articles on translational research from professional societies as well as collaborations among academia, industry, and/or regulatory agencies. This new initiative is in tandem with the “Open Access” format that was introduced in 2009. Both these changes are driven by our goal to make Cell Transplantation and our new online-only journal Cell Medicine the journals of choice that cater to rapidly changing technology in the dissemination of scientific knowledge and to the current push for translational research in the field of cell transplantation.

Stem Cell Nations Working Together for a Stem Cell World

Stem cell-based therapies, tools and targets are our future. The potential to impact on so many different diseases, disorder and injuries virtually guarantees that at some point in everyone’s life, the benefits of stem cell technology will be felt. The big challenge for the stem cell community is therefore to facilitate the best possible interaction with the population at large. This means locally, nationally and internationally – one world. This issue of Regenerative Medicine includes three highly relevant and timely papers covering several of the major global challenges to the future of cell-based therapies: stem cell tourism [1], emerging stem cell nations [2] and the facilitation of genuine dialogue and engagement with the public, regardless of location, in order to advance responsible stem cell research across the world [3]. These three topics are all highly intertwined since they cross the important divide between the stem cell community and the general public by addressing directly the asynchronous distribution of knowledge and understanding that presently exists. The ability to distinguish between reality, and ‘hype and hope’, is a major challenge for stem cell professionals let alone the lay public [4].

Gold Standards in the Diamond Age: The Commodification of Pluripotency

Human embryonic stem cells have been characterized as a rare and precious resource because of the scarcity of the materials used in their creation and the many restrictions that have been placed on their derivation and use. With the advent of induced pluripotent stem cells, however, pluripotency stands to become a plentiful and unencumbered commodity.

Medical Innovation Versus Stem Cell Tourism

Stem cell tourism is criticized on grounds of consumer fraud, blatant lack of scientific justification, and patient safety. However, the issues are complex because they invoke questions concerning the limits of acceptable medical innovation and medical travel. Here we discuss these issues and articulate conditions under which "unproven" therapies may be offered to patients outside of regular clinical trials.

Challenges in translational research

Challenges in translational research

The murky ethics of stem-cell tourism

The murky ethics of stem-cell tourism