Few areas of research in the medical and scientific communities create as much of a debate as stem cells. While stem cells have the potential to treat many different types of conditions from stroke to paralysis, there are numerous issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells.

New stem cell research being conducted is focusing on using stem cells derived from the patient's own body. Research using stem cells derived from the patient's own body is being conducted and has shown promise for treating brain injuries in rats.

Scientists in the UK are working on a new process for treating women with breast deformities caused from cancer treatment that uses stem cells taken from their own bodies. The process takes stem cells from fat located around the woman's stomach or thighs using specialized equipment. The stem cells than can then be mixed with another batch of fat from the patient before being injected into the breasts.

The researchers claim that it can take several months before the breast achieves the desired shape and size. Researcher Professor Kefah Mokbel from the London Breast Institute said. "This is a very exciting advance in breast surgery. They [breasts treated with stem cells] feel more natural because this tissue has the same softness as the rest of the breast. Implants are a foreign body. They are associated with long-term complications and require replacement. They can also leak and cause scarring."

Mokbel will be running the first clinical trial that will use the technique on healthy women seeking to enlarge their breasts. In May, he will begin treating his first ten patients with the new process. According to Mokbel, women will be able to pay for the procedure within the next six months at a cost of about £6,500.

Mokbel says that he believes only modest increases in size can be achieved using the stem cell process and points out that only gains in cup size will be made, no improvement in firmness and uplift will be achieved.