ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the discovery of stem cells, including embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, and their ability to differentiate into any cell type in the body. Dramatic findings in the 1960s by John Gurdon, who demonstrated that adult cells retain fundamental capabilities to revert back to more primitive and less differentiated cells, are key to the discovery of stem cells. It took decades of research during which the development of embryonic stem cells from blastocysts was achieved, until Shinya Yamanaka found a way to modify just four genes in adult cells to stimulate their reversion to an induced pluripotent stem cell, capable of both self-renewal and differentiation to any cell type. This chapter examines the history of the scientific discoveries that led to modern stem cell clinical trials and their establishment as a key type of treatment for diseases ranging from ischemic cardiac disease to macular degeneration to Parkinson’s disease and many additional illnesses.
