There's an 80% chance that in five months Bill Weir will be the first person ever to see his cardiac tissue beating outside his body.
Last week Bill visited Dr. Tim Nelson at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota to report on a revolutionary new stem cell treatment that would have sounded like science fiction even five years ago.
Different from the controversial embryonic stem cell treatment, Dr. Nelson's team took a biopsy from Bill's Bicep and are in the process of turning those cells into his own beating cardiac tissue; tissue that will beat at the same rate as the heart in his chest.
And this isn't just for the heart. After the biopsy is taken, doctors are able to wipe the hard drive of the cells and use them to create brain and lung tissue as well.
What this means is that in the future you may be able to go to your doctor and deposit a batch of cells, and if you have a stroke or heart attack later in life they'll be able to use those cells to repair the damage.