Global update: Sweden.

Swedish researchers have been very active in the stem cell field for many years. They have pioneered areas such as clinical treatment of Parkinson's disease, developmental biology including early stem cells, human embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells and human mesenchymal stem cells. The Swedish Research Council and other funding organizations have been very positive for stem cell research, and there is a favorable law in Sweden regulating human embryonic stem cell research. Many groups have been active partners in projects funded by the European Commission. Clinical trials are ongoing with mesenchymal stem cells in graft versus host disease and osteogenesis imperfecta. Successful transplantations of trachea using a tissue-engineered product with cells cultured into a scaffold have been made recently. Optimizing the stem cell type for these constructs is ongoing.