THIS week we report a tale that could have been scripted by Hollywood. Working alone, with no ties to any academic institution, a Saudi immunologist stumbles on a way to make white blood cells regress into the stem cells from which they originated. It’s a phenomenon that flies in the face of textbook biology, and her claims are met with disbelief. But, finally, she achieves some astonishing results, developing a treatment that appears to have helped four patients to recover from debilitating severe anaemia.
The intriguing story of Ilham Abuljadayel and her company, TriStem, unfolds on page 36. The work…
