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Regenerative medicine and human models of human disease

Abstract

Recent advances in stem-cell technology are now allowing the mechanisms of human disease to be studied in human cells. A new era for regenerative medicine is arising from such disease models, extending beyond early cell-based therapies and towards evaluating genetic variation in humans and identifying the molecular pathways that lead to disease, as well as targets for therapy.

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Figure 1: Multipotent cardiovascular progenitor cells and their differentiated progeny.

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Acknowledgements

The author is supported by grants from Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Fondation Leducq and the National Institutes of Health. This article is dedicated to N. E. Shumway.

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Competing interests

K.R.C. is a founder of Celladon, a biotechnology company that develops treatments for cardiovascular disease.

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Correspondence should be addressed to the author (kchien@partners.org).

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Chien, K. Regenerative medicine and human models of human disease. Nature 453, 302–305 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07037

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