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Clear up this stem-cell mess

Confusion about mesenchymal stem cells is making it easier for people to sell unproven treatments, warn Douglas Sipp, Pamela G. Robey and Leigh Turner.
  1. Douglas Sipp

    1. Douglas Sipp is a researcher at RIKEN and project professor at Keio University School of Medicine and Global Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.

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  2. Pamela G. Robey

    1. Pamela G. Robey is a senior investigator at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

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  3. Leigh Turner

    1. Leigh Turner is associate professor at the Centre for Bioethics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.

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Various populations of cells in the adult human body have been the subject of controversy since the early 2000s. Contradictory findings about these haphazardly termed ‘mesenchymal stem cells’, including their origins, developmental potential, biological functions and possible therapeutic uses, have prompted biologists, clinicians and scientific societies to recommend that the term be revised or abandoned. Last year, even the author of the paper that first used the term mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) called for a name change1.

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Nature 561, 455-457 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06756-9

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Competing Interests

L.T. has submitted a pro bono opinion in a lawsuit against a clinic that uses the mesenchymal stem cells discussed in this article.

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