The next New Optimists project — stem cell research & where it might lead

Stem cell research is about the fate of cells, what switches them on or off, what happens to them to make them change from one type of cell to another. As Simon Denegri blogged recently, it’s arguably one of the most exciting and one of the most important research fields today. No-one quite knows where the research will lead — and that’s what makes this next project of ours so brilliant to do. We will be asking leading people in the field what they’re optimistic about, where they see the future of their research.

As a taster, here’s Professor Lawrence Young talking about a link between stem cell research and cancer therapies:

If you want an easy-to-read potted history of the last few years’ work on stem cells and what it means for us, read this article by Gina Kolata Glimpsing a Scientific Future as Fields Heat Up in the New York Times last November.