Revision summary
Stem cells self-renew and become specialised tissue; therapy transplants or grafts them to repair damage. Adult haematopoietic cells treat leukaemia and can cure matched thalassemia; limbal cells treat some corneal surface failure; cultured skin treats severe burns. Autologous grafts reduce rejection compared with many organ transplants. ICMR-DBT 2017 guidelines distinguish approved use from experimental and commercial misuse. Unproven injections for many other diseases are not the same as these established indications.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Stem cells can divide and become specialised tissues. Stem cell therapy uses that property to repair or replace damaged blood, eye surface or skin. In India it is already standard in some bone-marrow transplants and limbal eye procedures, while many private clinics oversell unproven injections. The science is real for a defined set of conditions. It is not a cure-all.
Body
What stem cell therapy is
- A stem cell is unspecialised and can self-renew; under signals it differentiates into blood, nerve, muscle or other lines.
- Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent but raise ethical and tumour-risk issues; adult (somatic) stem cells, such as haematopoietic cells in bone marrow and cord blood, are the workhorses of current therapy.
- Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult cells reprogrammed in the lab; they are a research tool more than a routine Indian hospital treatment in 2017.
- Delivery may be autologous (the patient's own cells) or allogeneic (a donor, including matched family or unrelated registries).
- For leukaemia, high-dose therapy wipes diseased marrow; transplanted haematopoietic stem cells rebuild the blood system.
- For thalassemia major, a matched allogeneic transplant can replace the defective blood-forming system, which transfusions and iron chelation only manage.
- For a damaged cornea, limbal stem cell grafts restore the eye surface when the limbus is injured; this is not the same as a simple corneal button transplant when the stem-cell niche is gone.
- For burns, cultured keratinocytes and skin substitutes grown from the patient's cells can cover large areas when donor skin is scarce.
- Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Biotechnology guidelines (updated 2017) separate approved clinical use from experimental research and warn against unregulated commercial stem-cell tourism.
Advantages over other treatments
- Regeneration rather than only suppression: unlike lifelong immunosuppressants or repeated transfusions, a successful graft can restore function.
- Autologous use cuts rejection and some infection risk compared with a foreign organ transplant.
- In blood cancers, transplant can be curative where chemotherapy alone leaves residual disease.
- In thalassemia, it can end monthly transfusion dependence if a donor match exists.
- Limbal therapy can succeed where a cornea graft fails because the surface cannot maintain itself.
- Skin culture can treat extent of burn that cadaver grafts cannot cover in time.
- Limits remain: graft-versus-host disease in allogeneic transplants, cost, donor shortage, tumour risk if cells are poorly controlled, and no proven benefit for many advertised neurological claims.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD C[Stem cells self-renew] --> B[Blood marrow leukaemia thalassemia] C --> E[Limbal cornea] C --> S[Skin burns] B --> A[Advantage rebuild not only suppress] E[E] --> A[A] S[S] --> A[A] G[ICMR-DBT guidelines] --> H[Approved vs unproven clinics]
Conclusion
Stem cell therapy uses self-renewing cells to rebuild blood, ocular surface or skin. For leukaemia, thalassemia, limbal damage and extensive burns it can outperform repeated drugs, transfusion or simple grafts when protocols are followed. ICMR-DBT rules must keep hospital practice inside evidence, so patients are not sold unproven injections in the name of the same science.
Quick related
Students also ask
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India has achieved remarkable successes in unmanned space missions including the Chandrayaan and Mars Orbitter Mission, but has not ventured into manned space mission, both in terms of technology and logistics? Explain critically.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2017 · Q7). View answer →
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Can stem cells already cure every listed disease in every patient?
No. Blood transplants need a match and carry risk. Limbal and burn uses are for defined injuries. Many advertised uses lack evidence.
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Is embryonic stem cell therapy the routine hospital method in India?
No. Routine success is mostly adult haematopoietic and some limbal and skin applications, under guidelines.
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