Stem Cell Treatments Unproven, Cautions Nobel Laureate

Unproven stem cell therapies touted on the Internet pose a serious threat to patients, says one of this year’s winners of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

In an interview with Reuters, Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University shared his concern over the promotion of stem cell treatments for conditions ranging from Alzheimer's to spinal cord injuries by some hospitals, clinics, and websites in nations such as China, India, Mexico, Turkey, and Russia.

Stem cell treatments use adult cells that are transformed to embryo-like stem cells, which can be used to redevelop tissues in damaged brains, hearts, or other organs. Yamanaka and John Gurdon of the U.K.’s Gurdon Institute were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize this week for their work with stem cells.

Yamanaka said that these unproven stem cell treatments could be dangerous since they are not clinically tested and lack safety checks, reports Reuters.

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