Stem Cells in Domestic Animals: Applications in Health and Production

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past decade, stem cell research has emerged as an area of major interest for its potential applications, both in human and veterinary medicine. The effective management of companion and sport animals requires sophisticated new treatments and preventive strategies. Furthermore, also in livestock species, stem cell therapy could be used to treat several medical conditions that negatively affect meat and milk production or reproductive efficiency. In the era of antibiotic resistance, stem cells modified with therapeutic agents might be employed to combat mastitis in dairy cow, sheep, goat or buffalo, with enormous benefits also for human health. Reproductive performances could be improved by the integration of stem cells into the in vitro embryo production system, representing in another way the importance of stem cells in addressing commercial goals. Moreover, the importance of domestic animals as models for human diseases has been recognized. The quantity of tissue available for decellularization is greater than that in small animal models such as mice, and larger animal species more closely resembling some human behavior can be used for translational applications in cell therapy. Domestic animals are also models for stem cell secretome studies and clinical trials.

Prof. Dr. Eleonora Iacono
Dr. Barbara Merlo
Collection Editors

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