Tokyo

FOUR years ago, Shinya Yamanaka received a phone call that would forever change his destiny. The Kyoto University professor had won a Nobel Prize for his work in stem cell biology, which has since sparked a torrent of investment into regenerative medicine in Japan, a fast-moving field which the country's pharmaceutical industry aims to dominate.

Regenerated skin and cartilage are already used in Japanese patients, while corneas are expected to become available from 2018 and lab-grown livers and other organs in the years ahead.