Stem Cell Therapy and Rejuvenation, and Their Impact on Society

Abstract

n his worldwide best-seller Homo Deus [1], historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari discusses the future challenges facing humankind. In particular, he predicts that humanity will pursue three goals in the coming decades: immortality, bliss, and divinity. Biomedical engineering is pivotal to at least two of these alleged human aspirations—immortality and divinity—and it may arguably pertain to the pursuit of bliss, as well. The possibility of replacing or upgrading cellular constituents of the human body has led to an unprecedented scenario; for the first time in history, new cells and body tissues can be generated ex vivo to replace damaged or decayed body parts via cell transplant, similarly to the replacement of pieces of a LEGO®® figure. The use of stem cells for tissue/organ reconstruction and for the treatment of lesions and diseases has seen overwhelming success over the past few decades, and multiple well-validated therapies are now available for dealing with hitherto incurable conditions.