Chimeric stem cells

There is growing excitement over stem cell biology. It has stirred strong e thical and moral debates over the status and rights of small clusters of ce lls. It has promised a panacea for illnesses ranging from diabetes to strok e. it has challenged historical dogmas in developmental biology. There have been many commentaries on all of these issues in prominent journals and ne wspapers over recent months. In this article, we take a critical look at ne w data that underpin the last of these claims: the chimeric stem cell.