Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita
Original title: Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita
Duration: 83’
Producer: Maria Finitzo / Gordon Quinn / Justine Nagan
Director: Maria Finitzo
Participant: Maria Finitzo / Justine Nagan
Company: Kartemquin Films
Scientific field: Experimental / Biology / Human Sciences / Genetics / Medicine / Health
Year: 2007
Country: USA
Mapping Stem Cell Research - Terra Incognita puts a human face on stem cell research
through the story of Dr. Jack Kessler and his daughter, Allison - who fell skiing when she was
15 and was paralyzed from the waist down. Immediately after the accident, Dr. Kessler
decided to re-focus his research career to seek a cure for spinal cord injury using stem cells.
It's a story of a father fully engaged in the scientific process who believes that what he is
doing may eventually help thousands of people, and a young woman moving past her
traumatic injury. The documentary unfolds with struggling graduate students, political powers,
and families striving to overcome illness. Terra Incognita follows the evolving interplay
between the promise of new discoveries and the controversy of modern science.
Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita 
