Some twenty years ago during my post-doctoral years, when I first began engaging with researchers in Pakistan, I was pleased to see that colleagues were focusing on areas that were getting attention in the US. Among them was stem cell research, particularly around the idea of potency of embryonic stem cells as a vehicle to solve stubborn challenges in health and medicine. As my visits to Pakistan now started to include professional trips beyond the personal, I got to meet many researchers who were experimenting with stem cells. The main difference was that while many colleagues at my university were focusing on the fundamental questions, the research in Pakistan was mostly applied. Some researchers in Pakistan were even doing clinical trials - at a time when such trials were quite rare in the US. The idea of trials in a place with limited regulatory oversight was troubling, but I thought maybe I was not familiar with the full landscape, and I gave colleagues some benefit of the doubt. Nonetheless, I was........

© The Express Tribune