Embryonic stem cells: a great hope for a new era of medicine

Current stem-cell research has the potential to lead to new approaches for the treatment of cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and musculoskeletal diseases, as well as diabetes and cancer. Stem-cell-based approaches could be employed in cell-replacement therapy or in drug treatments that encourage adult stem cells to migrate and activate at a site of injury or disease. For such therapeutic approaches to be successful, a greater understanding of the signaling pathways that determine the diverse developmental fates of these cells is needed. From a drug-discovery perspective, efforts are being deployed in developing cell-based assays to screen for small molecules that can modulate stem-cell fate. Such compounds will provide new insights into stem-cell biology, and may ultimately contribute to effective disease treatments.