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Translational medicine is said to reflect a need to harness the huge wealth of scientific knowledge in biomedicine. In fact, it is a direct consequence of the globalized outsourcing of research and development by the pharmaceutical industry, resting on the creation of commercial enterprises within academia. A commercial drive in academia can, however, significantly alter scientific concepts in biology and medicine.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide a prime example of this. Decades of research on these cells, found in the bone marrow, show that they go on to form skeletal tissues such as bone, fat and cartilage, which they can also help to regrow and repair in the clinic. Yet companies have already emerged that market MSCs for a much broader range of applications. Against mainstream scientific evidence, these firms argue that the cells are veritable injectable drug stores.
This commercial creep has reached the pages of authoritative scientific journals, with articles suggesting that intravenously infused MSCs can be used as a single agent to mute or cure a long list of unrelated diseases in multiple organs, regardless of their...
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide a prime example of this. Decades of research on these cells, found in the bone marrow, show that they go on to form skeletal tissues such as bone, fat and cartilage, which they can also help to regrow and repair in the clinic. Yet companies have already emerged that market MSCs for a much broader range of applications. Against mainstream scientific evidence, these firms argue that the cells are veritable injectable drug stores.
This commercial creep has reached the pages of authoritative scientific journals, with articles suggesting that intravenously infused MSCs can be used as a single agent to mute or cure a long list of unrelated diseases in multiple organs, regardless of their...