Critical Focus | Still Waiting for Cures After All These Years
THE MICROSCOPE
2017, Volume 65:4, pp. 159–169
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/JIQU4829
AUTHOR
Brian J. Ford
EXCERPT
What is our principle ally in medicine? Body scanners? Antibiotics? That friendly physician whose charm and charisma settles the soul? A big budget from your medical insurance? None of these. It is something that doesn’t cost a cent, can make decisions that elude the cleverest doctor, carries out meticulous tasks no robot could replicate, and with which you come already equipped — the living cell. Now we are harnessing the magical capacity of stem cells, the most miraculous of all cell types. So far, we have done little to capture their potential, but it is the study of stem cells that is set to revolutionize medicine. We take a lot of credit for our medical expertise. Most of it we don’t deserve. We say how well we can heal a sore, close a wound, mend a bone, treat a trauma; but usually the human doctor plays a minor role. Our main task is not to bring about the miracle through intellectual ingenuity, but to harness the ability of stem cells to do the work for us.