Organs to order

Two giants of commercial gene research, Celera Genomics of Rockville,
Maryland, and Geron of Menlo Park, California, signed a deal this week to work
towards growing brand new organs from a patient’s own cells. Geron has a unique
supply of human stem cells, which can theoretically grow into particular sorts
of tissue, while sequencing heavyweight Celera will identify genes which control
tissue formation in embryos. “Our work under this alliance will bring us one
step closer to realising the therapeutic potential of human stem cells,” says
Thomas Okarma, Geron’s president.