Reasons for optimism on Stem Cell Day 2016

Happy Stem Cell Day!

It is a tumultuous time for the stem cell and regenerative medicine fields, but despite this there are concrete reasons for optimism on this Stem Cell Awareness Day. I’ve listed my top 10 below. What else gives you a sense of optimism? You can also check out CIRM’s nifty stem cell awareness day page too, from which I borrowed the below image.

1. More trials = road to progress. There are more real, robust clinical trials than ever and they are progressing past the early phases in some cases. The trials are piling up and while not all will succeed, some will. Keep an eye open for the for-profit, non-FDA-approved ones and steer people away from those.
2. We are seeing a flow of clinical trial data too pointing to encouraging outcomes, but also to challenges to overcome (witness the preclinical study on IPSC for heart attacks that found efficacy but also arrhythmias). With that kind of awareness such hurdles can be overcome in many cases as the work progresses.
3. The FDA held public meetings on stem cells. We can grouch about certain things about these meetings and we can ding the FDA for various issues, but it never before has engaged with the community like this on stem cells so it’s a good thing.
4. Stem cells firing on all cylinders: adult and pluripotent. Adult stem cell trials are building, but so now are pluripotent ones. The best way to help the most people in the long run is with all the tools (types of cells) we can utilize. The notion of “adult versus embryonic”, for instance, as some sort of cosmic battle seems out of date. We need both and also IPSC as well as other types as yet to come.
5. The stem cell clinic problem out in the open. Never before has there been this much information and awareness out there on the problem of stem cell clinics taking advantage of vulnerable people. For instance, see my recent article with Leigh Turner and the one from John Rasko’s group. I believe awareness will translate into action for the positive.
6. Putting the fun back in funding? NIH funding trends are looking at least slightly better overall which will help with stem cell research. CIRM is continuing its life extension and will fund many more projects in years to come. Other states are funding stem cell research too. It’s still a bad time for funding but the trend lines are at least moving the right way.
7. Much more educational outreach on stem cells. When I started blogging about stem cells in early 2010 it was very quiet out there on the Internet in terms of those of us trying to educate a wider community in a positive manner. That’s really changed now with quite a few blogs that at least touch on stem cells and a number entirely dedicated to stem cells and regenerative medicine. This is a positive change and it means the public has more resources than ever to learn about stem cells.
8. IPSC clinically-relevant work is looking up. It was a decade ago that IPSC cells were “born” and there were great expectations. Now 10 years later there are tangible signs that these cells will have lasting, huge impact including both from disease modeling and more recently via potential future clinical use.
9. Stem cells meet CRISPR and…boom! Okay so everyone is nuts about CRISPR no matter what kind of cells they study including me, but CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing combined with stem cells in particular equals great potential both for new insights such as into human development and also potentially clinically through designer stem cells.
10. Stem cell biotechs & stocks hanging in there. It has always been tough going for stem cell biotechs and that is likely to continue quite a while longer, but many are hanging in there and could surprise you down the road. Others have been acquired by pharma companies or inked collaborative deals in the last year or so. In the long run some of these companies are going to change medicine.