Stem Cell Therapies Will Bring Transformational Returns

Stem cells are simply too important for an investor to ignore. In biotechnology, no field is more transformational or disruptive than stem cell science.

Stem cells alone have the power to regenerate new, biologically young, tissue. When diseased cells, from hearts to brains, can be routinely regenerated, the quality and length of life will improve dramatically.

There is more to it than that, of course. Our bodies constantly regenerate without the help of external stem cell-based therapies. All those endogenously regenerated tissues, however, have the same defect. The new cells are all biologically older than their predecessors. As we age, our regenerative powers wane. In certain tissues, such as those of the brain and nervous system, the power to restore complete function in the case of an injury simply isn’t there.

We know for a fact that this is not the case in all living things. There are animals, like the lobster, that do not go through telomere shortening. Functionally, their cells are immortal — at least until they get eaten by another organism.

The ends of the DNA strands are to blame, as you know. With the exception of our reproductive cells, every time a cell divides, the “caps” on the ends of those strands get a little bit shorter. Called telomeres, these DNA caps eventually get too short. Normally, unless the telomeres are lengthened, this is the end of the cell line.

Telomeres, in a sense, are like candles. Early on, after being lit with the fire of new life, our cellular “candles” are long. Over time, however, they “burn down” and shorten. Eventually, they become too short, and the fire snuffs out. We age and die.

Needless to say, a technology with the potential to considerably lengthen life spans will be met with resistance. Despite futile searches for fountains of youth in the Florida wilderness and alchemical attempts to discover philosopher’s stones, nothing like this has ever existed in history. Psychological factors make people resistant to changes in the status quo.

The effects on society will be enormous. For one thing, a Social Security system designed at a time when the average life expectancy was in the mid-60s will need either drastic reform or it will collapse.

We see this resistance to change at play in genetically modified food crops, for example. Plants with improved traits, such as disease and drought resistance, can improve yields and make life dramatically better for millions of people on the edge of starvation. However, GM crops are strongly opposed by a segment of the population that views genetic engineering as a crime against nature.

This is nothing new. At one time, for example, the administration of anesthesia to birthing women was widely opposed. That is not the case today. The benefits are too great.

Up until a fraudulent scientific study ignited opposition in the late 1990s, this was also the case with vaccines. There was tremendous resistance to vaccinations in the early 1900s. This technology, however, has saved hundreds of millions of lives in the last 100 years. Other than those that buy into the vaccine scare, everybody receives the immune boosting benefits.

Stem cell therapies have opponents, too. However, I suspect that when the benefits of stem cell therapies become apparent to the public at large, we will see resistance decline as well. In addition, thanks to recent discoveries on how to turn adult cells into stem cells, many of the ethical barriers to their use are being cleared away. These alternatives are making embryonic stem cells obsolete.

In time, we will take the cures for granted. Thanks to vaccination technology, we take for granted that polio no longer paralyzes children today. Likewise, we will one day find it hard to imagine a world where a spinal cord injury could leave an otherwise healthy person paralyzed for the rest of their life.

Stem cell therapies will also, of course, yield profits that will be unmatched in investing history. There is no surer way to make transformational returns over the long run than investing in transformational technology.

Ad lucrum per scientia (toward wealth through science),

Ray Blanco
Penny Sleuth

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