Cell therapy is the branch of medicine that involves introducing new cells into a diseased tissue to trigger the body’s ability to heal itself. Cell therapy includes Stem Cell therapy, which means harvesting, transplanting or implanting stem cells in order to make healing mechanisms available in the diseased or damaged tissue itself. These stem cells may be harvested from the body of the mature adult from specialized sites where it is available, such as the marrow of large bones. Or they may be preserved stem cells, harvested from the Umbilical cord blood or cord tissue at the time of that person’s birth. They may also be from another donor. If the donor of the stem cells is the same as the patient in whom it is transplanted, it is called autologous cell therapy. If the donor is a different person, it is called allogeneic stem cell therapy.

Apart from stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells, Autologous cell therapy may involve implantation of mature, functional cells e.g. bone or cartilage cells from a healthy part of the body to a diseased or damaged part. This requires the intermediate stage of tissue-culturing, refining and multiplying the cells in the laboratory, before they are finally implanted or transplanted in the diseased or damaged part of the patient’s body.