Stem cell revolutionaries take on big challenges

OncoMed's Michael Clarke, George Q. Daly at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Sir Martin Evans from Cardiff University and Rene Hen from BrainCells/Columbia University are among 12 stem cell luminaries highlighted by Forbes. Collectively they are exploring ways that stem cells can revolutionize the treatment of spinal cord injuries, influence drug toxicity, treat deadly ailments like Tay-Sachs disease or cure type 1 diabetes. And Forbes highlights new work demonstrating how stem cells can be used to test the safety of experimental therapies--a major advance in a world in which nine out of every 10 new drugs either don't work or are too toxic.

"It's hard to predict the future," says James Thomson of Cellular Dynamics, "but my guess is that 20 years from now if you look backwards, 90 percent of the value of these cells will be in things that don't make the front page."

- read the report from Forbes
- click on the link for the science tour
- read the full Thomson interview

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