Prometheus created life from clay, and within many surgeons there is a desire to do the same in an effort to stave off death and disease. Organ transplantation has been one Promethean solution, but a lack of donor organs, ethical and other issues limits the stretch of this technology. We performed the world's first stem cell based organ transplants in an adult and then in a child, and the results suggest a new future for organ replacement. Driven by such clinical successes, science offers more and more opportunities to extend the scope of transplantation. A second Promethean myth has him punished for giving fire to man by being chained to rock and having his liver pecked out by an eagle daily for eternity. However, liver and man regenerate, and this reminds us that ultimately an understanding of the innate properties of tissues and organs to heal themselves may obviate the need for organ replacement altogether.

Prometheus and I: building new body parts from stem cells - Audio

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