If you’re not a biologist, it may have flown under the radar that there’s quite a bit of stem cell work going on already.

The development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which can be made from adult tissue rather than embryos, sorta sidestepped much of the ethical debate. They’re not exactly equivalent, but iPSCs have opened the door to a lot of exciting research because you can culture tissue that’s very similar to a patient’s. A few clinical trials were starting to get underway too....