Pfizer Funds Stem Cell Research

Doctors in the future may be able to slow or even to reverse the aging process. Pfizer is the world's largest drug maker and hus just announced that they will spend 100 million dollars over the course of the next five years to harness stem cells for a variety of different diseases. These diseases include vision loss, diabetes and heart disease that are common among the eldery. The scientist Ruth McKernan is the lead scientist who is heading the program. This is basically akin to anti-aging research, and is a really exciting development. In the future this may lead to many anti-aging treatments that can retard or stop the aging process. Doctors may be able to replace body parts with organs synthesized from stem cells.

In the past, mostly small biotech companies have done research in stem cells. Now Pfizer will help further these new technologies to help possibly repair damage with stem cells. Pfizer is now currently hiring approximately 70 scientists by the end of the year to staff laboratories that will focus on stem cells.

Pfizer is going to work with both adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are able to form any of 210 different cell types that are found within the human body.