A special debate in the style of the BBC’s Question Time will look at the issues surrounding stem cells facing both scientists and the public on Tuesday 10 March. It will feature the BBC’s Quentin Cooper and the creator of Dolly the Sheep, Professor Sir Ian Wilmut.

Stem cells are the body’s master cells, and cells taken from very early embryos have the ability to turn into any type of tissue in the body. Scientists have now found genes that can turn the clock back in adult cells and create cells similar to those taken from embryos – they have been named induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells.

Using this technique, scientists have been able to make new nerve cells from adult skin cells while another team has managed to produce new heart tissue.

The evening, part of the Cambridge Science Festival’s Spotlight on Science lecture series, will go behind the media hype surrounding stem cells and this new approach. The panel of experts will discuss the science, ethics and potential medical benefits of this new technique.

The panel will outline possible clinical applications of adult stem cells, how soon iPS stem cells could be available to use, and the ethics and legal constraints of using such treatments. The audience will be able to share their thoughts throughout the evening by an electronic voting system.

Like the BBC’s Question Time, people will be asked on arrival to write three questions on three slips of paper and questions through the evening will be selected from these.

The debate will take place from 7.15 to 9.30pm, between 7.15 and 8pm refreshments will be available and the audience will be asked to submit three questions. It takes place at the Li Ka Shing Centre, Addenbrookes Hospital. Tickets need to be booked in advance from the East of England Stem Cell Network website, follow the link on the top right.

The evening is organised by the East of England Stem Cell Network and sponsored by the MRC and the ESRC Stem Cell Initiative with further support from the BBSRC.
 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.