Stem Cells: 10 Diseases They May—or May Not—Cure

9. Sickle cell anemia. Stem cell researchers are exploring ways to correct numerous blood disorders, including sickle cell anemia. Mice have been cured of the sometimes-deadly condition after receiving transfusions of stem cells made from their own skin cells.

10. Organ failure. What better way to ease the shortage of organs for transplantation than to grow new ones? That's what some scientists think, and with stem cells, that vision may become more than a pipe dream. Last year, researchers grew a beating rat heart in the lab with the help of heart cells from newborn rats, preliminary proof of the concept.