U.S. Approves First Stem Cell Study for Spinal Injury

By GottaLaff

I am a huge proponent of stem cell therapy. Huge. Only a few weeks ago, my mother died after 10 years-plus of being ravaged by Alzheimer's, so this article hits home. So much time has been wasted arguing religion instead of saving actual living, breathing, suffering people who are trying their best to simply live their living, breathing, painful lives.

So who would opponents save from a burning building, their child or a blastocyst:

Federal regulators have approved the first experiment testing human embryonic stem cells on people, officials announced today.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif., to test stem cells derived from human embryos on eight to 10 patients with severe spinal cord injuries. The study is aimed primarily at determining the safety of the cells in human subjects, but researchers also will examine the patients for any signs the therapy restored sensation or movement

Geron chief executive Thomas B. Okarma:

"It marks the dawn of a new era in medical therapeutics . . . one that reaches beyond pills to a new level of healing: the restoration of organ and tissue function achieved by the injection of health replacement cells."

Although researchers have already begun testing embryonic cells derived from adults and fetuses in people, the study will mark the first government-approved use of those derived from embryos, which have been highly controversial because the process involves the destruction of the embryos.

President Obama is expected to lift a ban on federal funding for such research imposed by his predecessor. [...] The cells being used by the company were derived from leftover embryos at fertility clinics before the ban was implemented in 2001. [...]

"This is what we've all been waiting for," said Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., which plans to ask the FDA to approve another study using embryonic stem cells to treat blindness. "The field desperately needs a big clinical success. It's very important to show the naysayers that this is very real and hopefully it will start helping people."

This is the first time in 8 years that I've felt hopeful.