As a private tutor, I have become used to juggling the demands of students studying with different exam boards. For the first time ever, all the major A level boards have come together simultaneously, and everyone wants to know about stem cells. Stem cells are a very powerful weapon in the arsenal against disease, so I thought that I would hunt around for a current news story that would appeal to students. With thanks to Science Daily and The Children's Hospital, Boston.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have not yet had genes switched on and off, and so have the capacity to develop into other cell lines.

Strawberry birthmarks, called haemangiomas, are the bright red birthmarks that develop in early infancy. They are generally harmless but can be horribly disfiguring and studies have shown that as many as 10% of young children have one somewhere. As a child, I had a small one on my wrist that disappeared over time. These haemangiomas are due to a tangled mass of blood vessels originating from stem cells which have failed to differentiate into endothelial cells but instead have become vascular tissue. Scientists are developing a new therapy that is hopefully able to inhibit the genes responsible for blood vessel growth and to stop the proliferation of the stem cell itself.

Research reported in this way should be used with caution. The public perception of published research is that a "cure" has been found. Any new therapy such as this would need to be affordable and have been through clinical trials before it can be used routinely to treat patients.