UCL Lunch Hour Lecture: Prometheus and I: building new body parts from stem cells
Professor Martin Birchall (UCL Ear Institute)
Date: 15th November 2011
Prometheus created life from clay, and within many biologists and surgeons there is a primal desire to do the same from the materials at hand, 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. The road will be a long one and raising the funds for the journey and managing expectations in the meantime are challenges. However, driven by such clinical successes, science is incrementally offering more and more opportunities to provide alternatives to and extend the scope of transplantation.
A second Promethean myth has him punished for giving fire to man by being chained to a rock and having his liver pecked out by an eagle daily for eternity. In between, 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.
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at www.ucl.ac.uk.
