Regenerative medicine has produced remarkable therapies for tackling diseases that have eluded effective treatment. Chimeric antigen receptors can be re-engineered on T cells (CAR T-cells) for use in immunotherapy in blood cancers and have the potential to treat other forms of cancer. These re-engineered receptors allow for antigen binding and T-cell activation which allows for better cancer recognition by the patient’s immune system as well as more effective destruction of cancer cells.
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are cells that have been reprogrammed to have the ability to generate any other cell type in the body (hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, neurons, etc.). Regenerative medicine allows for the reprogramming of iPSCs from autologous or allogeneic sources to induce the desired cell for organ or tissue repair and several other therapeutic uses.