Chapters
10 items-
Fix Me
Sophie, Anthony and Dean have untreatable conditions; will they be able to find a cure in their lifetime?
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Regeneration
One emerging area of science, embryonic stem cells, could potentially cure many different conditions. However, these cells can be very dangerous.
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Sophie's Choice
Sophie, who is paralysed from the waist down, looks into unregulated stem cell clinics abroad as a possible alternative to waiting for mainstream treatment.
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Making Bone
Anthony travels to Finland to see how adult stem cells have been transformed into bone, and if this could have helped his broken leg before it was amputated.
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Overseas Clinics (also, see chapter 3)
Sophie meets someone from LA who has paid for treatment abroad. She also sees a Doctor who has studied patient's injuries before and after overseas care.
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Medical Revolution
Dean suffers from a rare heart condition that could kill him at any moment; he travels to a hospital to see if using a person's own adult stem cells can heal heart problems.
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Creating Body Parts (also, see chapter 4)
Research involving salamanders indicates that embryonic stem cells can be used to re-grow body parts. Whilst the American military are experimenting with something called 'pixie dust'.
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Heart Maker (also, see chapter 6)
Dean may not need to have a heart transplant as first thought, as a scientist hopes to regenerate a pig's heart that is populated with adult stem cells.
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A Permanent Cure (also, see chapters 4 and 6)
Embryonic stem cell research is on the brink of being given the green light by US authorities to undergo human trials, giving Sophie hope of a permanent cure.
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Final Summary
Do Dean, Sophie and Anthony still hold out hope for stem cell treatment?
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Photo: Dean discovers stem cell technology
Dean Third, who has a congenital heart problem called Dilated Cardiomyopathy, examines e beating rat heart made in a lab with the use of stem cells.
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Photo: Anthony meets a fellow amputee
Anthony Bath, on the right, meets Shylo Harris, who was wounded by an explosive device in Iraq. Shylo is the first subject in an experiment by the US military to re-grow missing fingers.
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Photo: Sophie sees stem cell science in the USA
Sophie Morgan, who has a spinal cord injury, visited the Reeve-Irvine Centre in California, to discover if a breakthrough in the use of embryonic stem cells will mean that she might be able to walk again in the future.
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BBC Ouch!
Ouch! is the BBC site reflecting the lives and experiences of disabled people. It has articles, blogs, a messageboard and an award-winning downloadable radio show.
Visit the BBC Ouch! website
Credits
- Director
- Alex Steinitz
- Producer
- Alex Steinitz
- Executive Producer
- Andrew Cohen
