Sartipy Peter, Björquist Petter, Strehl Raimund, Hyllner Johan
Cellartis AB, Arvid Wallgrens Backe 20, 413 46 Göteborg, Sweden.
Drug Discov Today. 2007 Sep;12(17-18):688-99. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2007.07.005. Epub 2007 Aug 30.
The isolation of human embryonic stem cells about a decade ago marked the birth of a new era in biomedical research. These pluripotent stem cells possess unique properties that make them exceptionally useful in a range of applications. Discussions about human stem cells are most often focused around the area of regenerative medicine and indeed, the possibility to apply these cells in cell replacement therapies is highly attractive. More imminent, however, is the employment of stem cell technologies for drug discovery and development. Novel improved in vitro models based on physiologically relevant human cells will result in better precision and more cost-effective assays ultimately leading to lower attrition rates and safe new drugs.
大约十年前人类胚胎干细胞的分离标志着生物医学研究新时代的诞生。这些多能干细胞具有独特的特性，使其在一系列应用中格外有用。关于人类干细胞的讨论大多集中在再生医学领域，事实上，将这些细胞应用于细胞替代疗法的可能性极具吸引力。然而，更为迫切的是将干细胞技术用于药物发现和开发。基于生理相关人类细胞的新型改进体外模型将带来更高的精准度和更具成本效益的检测方法，最终降低损耗率并研发出安全的新药。
