Question: you say you want to look into healing broken bones, dont you think stem cell research could be used for more threatening diseases and injuries? Also cant broken bones heal themselves for example my friend has just broken his collar bone and his doctor has told him that it will heal its self?

James Chan answered on 15 Mar 2011:

Hi Abbie, I think stem cell research can be used for lots of different diseases and injuries. But broken bones are one of the most common causes of disability in the world – one in four people in this country will break a bone in their lifetime, for instance. And you are right, in many people, like your friend, bones can heal without much help. But there are many situations where bones do not heal properly, like people who have been run over by cars and have really nasty fractures, soldiers who have had broken bones jutting out from bomb blasts, or elderly people who have really fragile bone that do not heal quick enough. In fact, many of these elderly people die in hospital because their bones take so long to heal and they end up getting hospital infections and other problems.

Don’t forget, the chances of getting a poor healing fracture in your life time are the same as the chances of getting cardiovascular problems, so although bones do not sound as sexy, they are very important too. Many of these people will go on to have their limbs amputated or become useless. If we can get these fractures to heal quicker and better, we may be able to prevent the amputations and get them walking again, or work again. So I think the research is worthwhile, but I also think it’s also very useful in other areas like looking into helping people with heart attacks and dementia. I hope that’s convinced you!