Anthony Atala
AGE: 49
OCCUPATION: Director, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0
PRO: Peru-born researcher who, along with colleagues, grew and implanted the first lab-generated organ, a bladder, in humans. Atala is working on building a host of other organs and human parts, such as cartilage and heart valves. His laboratory also recently discovered in amniotic fluid a new type of stem cell. This discovery may offer an alternative to the political hot potato of embryonic stem cell research.
CON: Much of this stuff is early stage research, years away from practical application.