With advances in stem cell research and nanotechnology helping us fight illnesses from heart disease to superbugs, is the fusion of biology and technology speeding us towards a sci-fi future — part human, part synthetic?

In Ridley Scott’s seminal blockbuster Blade Runner, humanity has harnessed bio-engineering to create a race of replicants that look, act and sound human — but are made entirely from synthetic material.

We may be far from realising that sci-fi future, but synthetics are beginning to have a profound effect on medicine.