IT HAS been 10 frustrating years since human embryonic stem cells were first isolated from spare human embryos and grown in the lab – frustrating, because ESCs have completely failed to live up to their promise of providing an inexhaustible source of transplantable tissues and organs. Instead, they have remained mired in moral and political controversy because they are obtained from embryos that perish in the process.
Only one company, Geron of Menlo Park, California, has made significant progress on the medical front, having successfully turned ESCs into cells that could be used to repair spinal cords, hearts, livers, bones…
