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Last broadcast on Tue, 27 Oct 2009, 23:20 on BBC Two (Scotland only) (see all broadcasts).
Next on:
Tuesday, 02:40 on BBC One
Synopsis
Horizon follows the emotional journey of three young people with currently untreatable conditions to see if within their lifetime, they can be cured.
Sophie is desperate to discover if there's a medical breakthrough which will get her walking again - a car crash after celebrating her A level results left her paralysed from the waist down. Anthony's leg was amputated after a rugby accident on the eve of his eighteenth birthday. Will he ever be able to regrow his leg? Father of four Dean is desperate for a cure for his damaged heart to avoid an early death. They've all read the headlines about the astonishing potential of stem cells to heal the body. Now they've been given access to the pioneering scientists who could transform their lives.
With so much at stake, each meeting is highly emotional as our three young people find out if science can fix them.
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.
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.
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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Chapters
-
Fix Me
Sophie, Anthony and Dean have untreatable conditions; will they be able to find a cure in their lifetime?
1 00.00 -
Regeneration
One emerging area of science, embryonic stem cells, could potentially cure many different conditions. However, these cells can be very dangerous.
2 01.57 -
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.
3 10.05 -
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.
4 13.50 -
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.
5 20.54 -
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.
6 29.46 -
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'.
7 36.13 -
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.
8 46.21 -
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.
9 50.19 -
Final Summary
Do Dean, Sophie and Anthony still hold out hope for stem cell treatment?
10 55.40
Credits
- Director
- Alex Stienitz
- Producer
- Alex Stienitz
- Executive Producer
- Andrew Cohen
Broadcasts
-
Tue 27 Oct 200921:00
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Tue 27 Oct 200923:20
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Tue 1 Dec 200902:40
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