As the epitome of the modern regenerative medicine

stem cells were proposed in the basic sense no more than 200 years ago. However

the concept of "stem cells" existed long before the modern medical description. The hypothesis that all things

including our sentient body

were generated from a small origin was shared between Western and Chinese people. The ancient Chinese philosophers considered Jing (also known as essence) as the origin of life. In Chinese medicine (CM)

Jing is mainly stored in Kidney (Shen) and the so-called Shen-Jing (Kidney essence). Here

we propose that Shen-Jing is the CM term used to express the meaning of "origin and regeneration". This theoretical discovery has at least two applications. First

the actions underlying causing Shen-Jing deficiency

such as excess sexual intercourse

chronic diseases

and aging

might damage the function of stem cells. Second

a large number of Chinese herbs with Shen-Jing-nourishing efficacy had been proven to affect stem cell proliferation and differentiation. Therefore

if Shen-Jing in CM is equivalent with stem cells in regenerative medicine

higher effective modulators for regulating stem-cell behaviors from Kidney-tonifying herbs would be expected.