Imagine a foot so ravaged by diabetic ulcers that a chunk of it is missing. Then, a few weeks later, imagine smooth skin where the open wound once was -- thanks to a material developed from the small intestine of a pig that is rich with stem cells.

That material, known as "SIS" for small intestine submucosa, was developed by a scientist now at the University of Pittsburgh. It is one of several possible real-world applications of stem cell and regenerative medicine research discussed yesterday at the opening of a Downtown conference on the science.

The annual gathering of an international roster of scientists, regulators and companies working to bring applications of stem cell research to the market is being held in Pittsburgh for the first time, said conference chair Dr. Doros Platika. Pittsburgh, he said, was the ideal location because of the city's strength in the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field.

The two-day meeting was launched by Dr. Platika five years ago to bring together the movers and shakers in this growing multimillion-dollar industry to discuss the latest applications and uses of stem cell research as well as the issues around commercializing the controversial science.

Held at Downtown's Westin Convention Center hotel, the conference was attended by about 100. Conference organizers said they intended to keep a low-profile for the duration of the meeting, for fear of protests by groups and individuals opposed to embryonic stem cell research.

Research on embryonic stem cells has sparked political debate and captured headlines because it uses cells from human embryos, which then must be destroyed.

But "embryonic stem cells are only a small part of stem cell research," noted Alan J. Russell, the director of the South Side-based McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Stems cells can be derived from adult humans and from animals, or even created synthetically.

Stem cells have a unique ability to renew themselves and to generate specialized cells that can be used to potentially cure such as ills as Alzheimer's disease to repairing spinal cord injuries.

Embryonic stem cells are considered particularly useful by scientists because can they can be transformed into virtually every kind of tissue, whereas adults cells, which can be found in most tissues, may have more limited possibilities.

The conference included stem cell applications that are still in the experimental stage, but that promise to help grow what could be a multibillion-dollar industry, Dr. Russell said.

One example is San Diego-based biotech firm Cytori Therapeutics, which is developing stem cells generated from human fat. The firm expects to begin human trials in the next 12 to 18 months for treatments ranging from cosmetic surgery -- using fat cells to replace silicone and saline in breast augmentations -- to healing complications from Crohn's disease and brain injuries.

The conference comes on the heels of experiments showing it might be possible to harvest embryonic stem cells without destroying viable human embryos, though not without risk or without genetically altering them.

The new findings could prove to assuage ethical and political opponents of the research.

Conference participants discussed the legal, ethical and political ramifications of stem cell research, hearing from speakers ranging from an attorney specializing in life sciences to a Food and Drug Administration official.

Indeed, one of the biggest challenges facing bringing stem cell research to the marketplace, said Dr. Platika, is overcoming FDA hurdles. In many cases, regenerative medicine cannot be easily classified as just one type of product for the FDA to consider.

Dr. Platika added that the conference was an opportunity not just to spark dialogue between scientists and companies interested in commercializing stem cell research, but to entice entrepreneurs and investors to consider launching regenerative medicine start-ups in the region.

"This is where we are strong," Dr. Platika said, noting the city's "critical mass" of stem cell and tissue engineering researchers. "This is one of the key areas on which we can build our life science industry."