MS, an auto-immune condition which affects 2.3 million people around the world, attacks cells in the brain and the spinal cord, causing an array of physical and mental side effects including blindness and muscle weakness. At the moment there's no cure, but Su and her company, LIFNano, hope to change that.

"Some people get progressive MS, so go straight to the severe form of the disease, but the majority have a relapsing or remitting version," she says.

"It can start from the age of 30, and there's no cure, so all you can do is suppress the immune response, but the drugs that do that have side effects, and you can't repair the brain. The cost of those drugs is very high, and in the UK there are a lot of people who don't get treated at all."

But now a solution could be in sight thanks to Su, who has married one of the body's cleverest functions with some cutting-edge technology. The natural side of the equation is provided by a stem cell particle called a LIF.