Where Stem Cells Stand

A Window on Health and Disease

Among the many promises of human embryonic stem cell research is that it will open a window into the complex events that occur during human development. Another area of UCLA in which stem cell boundaries are being pushed is the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, where researchers are using model systems in an attempt to determine the genetic signals needed for cells to go into differentiated states. Finding answers to this fundamental problem could have profound implications on treatment for a disease such as cancer.

"More and more evidence suggests that cancer is a stem cell disease," says Gasson. "Many of our current therapies are not effective because they don't target the cancer stem cells. We need to understand the biology of the cancer stem cell so we can develop the next new wave of molecularly targeted therapies that go after those important cells."

UCLA stem cell researchers are quick to caution that the revolutionary new treatments they hope will eventually evolve for diseases such as cancer, HIV and neurological, musculoskeletal and metabolic disorders are likely to be years, or even decades, away. "This is not an easy task and it will take time," says Hanna Mikkola, a former Harvard stem cell scientist who was the first faculty member hired by UCLA's new institute. "But this does open up the possibility for completely new approaches to treating diseases on which we have made very little progress for several decades."

Published Jan 1, 2006 12:00 AM