The discovery of a cheap and almost absurdly simple way of making stem cells – the “master” cells that can develop into any tissue – could lead to a new era of “personalised” medicine. The breakthrough was made by a young researcher in Japan, who found that blood cells from mice could be turned back into an embryonic state merely by bathing them in acid for half an hour, raising the prospect of doctors one day being able to create stem cells from a routine blood sample. These could then be injected back into the patient’s body to repair, for example, brain injuries or damaged heart tissue. (Edited from an article on BBC News Online).

This is very good news. So many medical innovations are expensive and have to be used, like Cat-scans, in order to pay for themselves. This leads doctors to over-prescribe. A few year ago I was admitted to a hospital emergency room with a condition that I later discovered could have been dealt with by an over-the-counter medicine from the local drugstore. In Emergency they gave me two Cat-scans, which were fearfully expensive and potentially damaging to health. It’s nice to hear of something you can’t be over-charged for (we hope!)