STEM CELL SAGA: A STEP ALONG THE WAY

Significant results of stem cell research is the hottest issue of the day. But the payoff is at least a decade or more away All the breakthroughs in science didn't happen overnight. They took time and patience, often trial and error for the problem to be solved. Was it worth waiting after all? Ask the patients now cured who endured the pain and uncertainty while scientists worked endlessly to unlock the secrecy of a medical mystery,

Like every labratory story, the stem cell saga will one day become another step along the way to a world free of disease. To those who say, "It won't help me, I'll never live to see a pain free day. I'll be dead before they know how to cure what I endure," to this I will reply:

"It's probably true, but you might see things in a different light if you realize what's achieved today, tomorrow or in years to come, will help someone who thought the same as you and, lo and behold, a beakthrough changed their life because of you."

Perhaps you volunteered to take experimental medications to see if they could enhance and advance knowledge of your dsease. Your contribution toward the solution should please and comfort you.

Perhaps your heir or someone you care about contracts a dread disease like yours and is reassured he may be cured if trials underway point to effective medications. That will cause a celebration because you and others shared participation in long-range studies that made recovery not just probable but possible.

You will thrill in knowing this will be so for someone who suffered just like you and yearned to have their dream come true.