For all the past week’s headlines about embryonic stem cells’ medical promise there is a sobering reality: The science to prove that promise will take years, probably too long for many of today’s seriously ill.
On his desk at Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard stem cell researcher Dr. George Daley keeps a file about 3 inches thick of e-mails and letters from patients and families who hope his work could help them. They are both inspiration and caution.