The current developments in stem cell research allow predicting the reality of the cellular therapy for congenital and acquired diseases in a foreseeable future. The established repositories of the human embryonic stem cell lines with normal and abnormal genotypes will make it possible to initiate the human clinical trials, and investigate the primary effects of different gene mutations and chromosomal disorders. This may soon be used for the development of the approaches not only for avoidance of birth of children with congenital disorders, but also for radical treatment of fatal chronic diseases determined by common mutations and predisposing genetic variability.

The potential of new therapeutic interventions in many diseases will also depend on the knowledge on molecular reprogramming of the embryonic and adult stem cells. The progress in this direction has been dramatic in the last few years, and may soon be also realized in human, so the review of these recent developments is of special interest, although many problems still remain unanswered, with the key issue being the ability to reprogram embryonic stem cells into different cell types, and turn the specialized somatic cells into the embryonic stem cells.

The previous three Annual Belize meetings organized by Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis International Society (PFDIS) reviewed a few breakthroughs on the reprogramming of adult somatic cells into embryonic stem cells, and discussed the developments in the reprogramming of embryonic stem cells with special emphasis on their differentiation into the specialized somatic cell types. This is required for the forthcoming human clinical trials of the use of embryonic stem cells for treatment of different human chronic disorders.

The present meeting will further review the progress in Molecular Reprogramming and discuss the first results of the studies of the disease specific human embryonic stem cell lines. The meeting will again be organized in Belize, the excellent venue for an informal scientific meeting on special topics in the field of the development of stem cell therapy for debilitating disorders for which there is still no available treatment.