Divide and Conquer
Carol Warner’s tireless quest to realize the therapeutic promise of eggs, embryos, and stem cells

By Eileen McCluskey
Illustrations by Janet Dreyer

Seated on an examining table, a woman with diabetes rolls up her sleeve. In a matter of seconds, her doctor has given her an intravenous injection of stem cells derived from eggs removed from her ovaries.

With no side effects, the stem cells will correct her body's inability to produce insulin. The woman may need to visit her doctor every year or so for additional infusions. But with these infrequent interventions, she is essentially cured of an illness suffered by, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates, more than 18.2 million Americans. An illness that would otherwise require daily monitoring and insulin injections, and perhaps cause serious secondary complications, such as eye, kidney, and circulatory ailments.

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