New Book Reveals the Promise of Adult Stem Cells

“…the potential benefits of adult stem cell research are very considerable, since it opens up possibilities for healing chronic degenerative illnesses by repairing damaged tissue and restoring its capacity for regeneration.

I pray that your commitment to adult stem cell research will bring great blessings for the future of man and genuine enrichment to his culture.”

–from a message by Pope Benedict XVI
to a Vatican conference on adult stem cell research
November 10, 2011

Family and friends of the author, experts and educators—all are likely to be invited to write an introduction to a book.  It’s not often, though, that a writer snags an introduction from the Pope himself!  The fact that Pope Benedict was inspired to recommend The Healing Cell, as his papacy neared its end, speaks to the topic’s importance in contemporary research and medicine.

The Healing Cell is a book of stories:  stories of real health struggles of real people, and the exciting scientific improvements and cures many of them are experiencing because of adult stem cell research and treatment.  Its three co-authors—Robin L. Smith, M.D., chief executive officer and chairman of the board of NeoStem; Rev. Tomas Trafny, official at the Pontifical Council for Culture, head of the Science and Faith Department (Vatican City State), and executive director of STOQ Project; and Max Gomez, Ph.D., one of television’s most respected medical journalists—have offered a clear-eyed view of medicine that is now paying off with treatments that repair damaged hearts, restore sight to the blind, kill cancer, cure diabetes, and heal burns.  Stem cell therapy can stop the march of such degenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The Healing Cell:  How the Greatest Revolution in Medical History Is Changing Your Life (NY:  Center Street, 2013) is scheduled to hit bookstands on April 2, 2013.  In addition to the message from Pope Benedict, there is a foreword by Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture.