Stem cell therapies in Japan - safety and regulation

Neurons differentiated from embryonic stem cells. Image from: Nissim Benvenisty - Russo E. (2005) PLoS Biol 3(7): e234. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030234 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license

It has been a pleasure discussing research ethics with Kayo Takashima, an ethicist at Kyoto University, for many years. This is the first time that I have been able to contribute to one of her publications, looking at how patients in Japan are protected from unproven cell or gene therapies.

Takashima K., Morrison M., George A.J.T. and Minari J.

Revisiting patient protection in unproven cell and gene therapies under Japan’s safety act.

Cell Stem Reports (2026); 21: doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2026.103077.

https://www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports/fulltext/S2213-6711(26)00288-2