tension. The pull, on the part of any of the above entities (and I include myself in this mix, somewhere), to overstate or hype results is almost unrelenting. Everybody wants it to succeed. Now would be a good time. But the reality is, when it comes to human testing of stem cell therapies, the research community is just now beginning to walk, albeit with tiny baby steps. Those steps are guided by peer review and regulations around safety and efficacy. Of course, there are those who choose to operate outside these research parameters. From the researcher's point of view, these are purveyors of stem cell tourism -- and, with fewer or no regulations to be concerned with, no data to turn over to their peers for evaluation and the potential for substantial financial gain, they are leading the race. They hit their stride years ago, and can turn a new scientific advance into an advertised "cure" in a matter of days. In terms of risk, the research community and unregulated clinics exemplify the opposite ends of the spectrum, but there is much that falls between; for example, clinics that do operate under approvals granted by IRBs with questionable membership and motives , or, as exemplified by the autism trial above, a clinical trial based on less-than-conclusive evidence . And these are just the risks associated with the practice side of things -- an entirely different sort of risk is negotiated by the patients who opt not to try experimental therapies,