How do clinical trials with stem cells work?

Clinical trials are research studies that explore whether a medical treatment is safe and effective for people. Once potential treatments are discovered in the lab (“the bench”), they are subjected to rigorous testing in non-human models. This process involves years of research, and hundreds, even thousands, of failed experiments. The most promising treatments are then tested in humans (“the bedside”) to make sure they are safe and have real, positive effects on particular diseases. All this must occur before the treatment can be approved and regulated by the FDA.