Revolutionary Therapies: How The California Stem Cell Program Saved Lives, Eased Suffering - And Changed The Face Of Medicine Fo

For author Don C Reed, father of a paralyzed son, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is the greatest medical advance since penicillin.REVOLUTIONARY THERAPIES is Reeds third book about the $3 billion stem cell program.Voted into law in November 2004, CIRM is now running out of money.Should its funding be renewed? Thereby hangs a tale, or rather several dozen of them, for each of the books 71 short chapters is framed by a yarn or vignette.The factual background is accurate, vetted by the scientists, but Reeds goal is clearly both entertainment and education.A favorite example is a little girl named Evie, imprisoned in a plastic bubble:: her bodys immune system did not work, and she would die outside. She joined a CIRM clinical trial ... Imagine how Evies parents felt — when she got well.Some stories are comical, like How Stem Cell Research Saved My Car; others surprising, like the comparison between politics and the giant crocodile Gustave; others are tragic or inspiring:: but all point to this:: More than 100 million Americans suffer chronic disease, causing mountains of medical debt — and the only way to reduce that expense ($3 trillion last year) — is cure.