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[abraham90]

First Embryonic Stem-Cell Trial Gets Approval From the FDA

January 2009

In a watershed moment for one of the most contentious areas of science and American politics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the first-ever human trial of a medical treatment derived from embryonic stem cells. Geron Corp., a Menlo Park, Calif., biotechnology company, is expected to announce Friday that it received a green light from the agency to mount a study of its stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injuries in up to 10 patients. The announcement caps more than a decade of advances in the company's labs and comes on the cusp of a widely expected shift in U.S. policy toward support of embryonic stem-cell research after years of official opposition. "This is the dawn of a new era in medical therapeutics," said Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and chief executive officer. The hope that stem-cell therapy will repair and regenerate diseased organs and tissue "goes beyond what pills and scalpels can ever do." Limits on stem-cell research, which prevented federal funding and were imposed by Congress and former President George W. Bush for ethical and religious reasons, have had a chilling effect on both academic and corporate research involving such cells. Proponents of stem-cell research say restrictions have delayed development of promising new treatments, while critics contend that harvesting stem cells from embryos destroys human life.

I would and I am really excited about this research.

[devdutta58]

I would welcome such research. I'm legally deaf and use a hearing aid. If something like this were to improve my hearing in any way, I would be a candidate for the experiment. I truly hope Rick Perry doesn't get a chance to run for president because I hear he is on Bush's side on stem cell research. We lost 8 years of government funded research under bible thumping "W" and I hope we don't go back into the dark ages of research by the next president!

[taillefer]

Science has proved that adult stem cells are completely viable for research. I am not in favor of using the stem cells from unborn humans in experiments.

[amdt57]

I would be leary of being a guinea pig for
any medical trials involving the five senses.

[lathrop]

I'll wait until it is a proven benefit. Medicine is making strides every day with new advances.

[jan46]

No but I would join one for cannibus research.

[muata2]

YES.

[salvadore94]

I think I would. Maybe it would help my tinnitus.

[baigh75]

Yes I would and also for the eyes too..=)

[napayshni65]

Having specialized in the care and teaching of spinal cord injured patients, I with them have been waiting for more than 25 years for the possibility! Many of the patients from so long ago, they were teens and early 20's then, would require intensive and extensive rehab and treatment to be able to again use those paralyzed muscles which have mostly only been ranged if even that. It would be truly a miracle for the newly injured whose muscles had not yet atrophied, and the severe bony changes had not yet started.

I would be very interested if the lost layers of the macula of the eye were to regenerate. For me it would be to weigh the risks against to possible good results.