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It's 1998 and science is taking big strides. The first cloned mammal, Dolly the Sheep, has just had her first lamb; the first robotically assisted heart surgery has been completed; Furbys have hit the shelves. In a bold announcement, biomedical engineer Professor Michael Sefton declared that within 10 years, scientists would have grown an entire heart, fit for transplant. "We're shooting big," he said. "Our vision is that we'll be able to pop out a damaged heart and replace it as easily as you would replace a carburettor in a car."
Stem cells were a little-known area of research then, but one gathering pace. Here was a blank-template cell with the potential, given the know-how, to become any other type of cell in the body. The year before, in 1997, the first regenerative cell-therapy had been given the go ahead, where stem cells were used to regrow cartilage in the knee. Later in 1998, the first human embryonic stem cells were isolated. Sefton's forecast seemed justified.
Fifteen years on, however, we've had some liver cells, eye cells, even a...
Stem cells were a little-known area of research then, but one gathering pace. Here was a blank-template cell with the potential, given the know-how, to become any other type of cell in the body. The year before, in 1997, the first regenerative cell-therapy had been given the go ahead, where stem cells were used to regrow cartilage in the knee. Later in 1998, the first human embryonic stem cells were isolated. Sefton's forecast seemed justified.
Fifteen years on, however, we've had some liver cells, eye cells, even a...