Stem-cell science cannot deliver miracle cure-alls

WHEN Dr James Thomson isolated cells from the inner cell mass of the early embryo and developed the first human embryonic stem-cell lines at the University of Wisconsin, nobody could have predicted the flurry of interest that would follow.

Since his discovery in 1998, stem cells have been hailed as the "holy grail" to put an end to a host of diseases including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid...