US approves 1st stem cell study for spinal injury

A U.S. biotech company says it plans to start this summer the world's first study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem cells - a long-awaited project aimed at spinal cord injury.

Each patient will receive a low dose of anti-rejection drugs for about two months, because after that time the medications shouldn't be needed, Okarma said. The study will follow each patient for at least a year...

Geron Corp. has spent at least $100 million on human embryonic stem cell research. Founded in 1992, it does not have any therapies on the market....Geron helped finance researchers at the University of Wisconsin who first isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998. The company has retained exclusive rights on several of those cell types.

Needless to say, Geron has an enormous incentive to have this study be declared a "success" so that they would be in line for the huge government grants for "further research" in this "promising" field.

Given the extremely low bar being set for this study, I'm thinking that the fix will be in. I guess I've seen too many Hollywood movies about unscrupulous drug companies.

Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell of the body, and scientists have long hoped to harness them for creating replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases. But research has been controversial because embryos must be destroyed to obtain them.

Research "has been controversial" also because the only other human trials of ESCs, in China, have resulted in nothing but the creation of hideous anthropomorphic tumors in the participants.

I'm not sure if for profit companies can get grants. Their getting patents, "exclusive rights," to make money.

Given the extremely low bar being set for this study, I'm thinking that the fix will be in. I guess I've seen too many Hollywood movies about unscrupulous drug companies.

This sounds like a typical FDA phase I trial, i.e. there's a theoretical benefit, but they have to show it doesn't harm the patient.

I had questions on the anti-rejection drugs, too.

Seriously, the only reason the "debate" was ever brought to light, was after over 50 years of lab work with embryonic stem cells, the private investments dried up. People with money know how to make it and keep it and they aren't going to fund a losing proposition. The only place to get the cash now is the fed. Same thing with "green" energy technology. There was no private investment in 2008, so the people doing it have to depend on the fed.

It's real simple - follow the money on the path to glory among peers. Otherwise, we'd never know a darn thing about it.

The patients will be paraplegics, who can use their arms but can't walk. They will receive a single injection within two weeks of their injury

Two weeks after injury should be before scar tissue and after swelling goes down.

The study is aimed at testing the safety of the procedure, but doctors will also look for signs of improvement like return of sensation or movement in the legs, Okarma said.

Holy $h#t! They're using humans as guinea pigs! This is insane to allow!

President Barack Obama has promised to relax the Bush administration's restrictions on federal financing for such research. But Obama's ascent to the White House had nothing to do with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's granting permission for the new study, Okarma said in a telephone interview Thursday.

B.S.!! Maybe we should honor our new President by changing the name from "abortion" to "0-bortion"!

Evan Snyder, a stem cell researcher at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif., said scientists in the field will focus chiefly on the study's results about safety. "The one hope that everybody has is that nothing bad happens," he said.

Hell of a way to run a business...

Geron Corp. has spent at least $100 million on human embryonic stem cell research. Founded in 1992, it does not have any therapies on the market.

So 16 years and $100 million later, they have nothing to show for.

This will be a disaster that will end up being hidden as soon as patients start dying, IMHO.

Embryonic stem cell research started on animals in 1981 and to date there had not been one successful clinical trial on a human being, the only result is the experimentation and destruction of human life in the embryonic stage. ESCR is a ruse so that, without anyone watching, the government, academia and the pharmaceutical companies can allow the embryo grow a little further to conduct drug experimentation. So far, there are 73 treatments using non-embryonic (adult) sources. Listed below are threads about successful spinal cord treatments & research using ADULT, non-embryonic stem cells.

"Adult" Stem Cells Injected Into CNS Safe And Feasible For Neurological Disorder Therapy
Growing Nerve Cells
Adult Stem Cells Provide New Life For Livers Spinal Cord
Adult Stem Cell Research Treats Spinal Cord Injury Patient Paraplegic Breakthrough Using Adult Stem Cells
Adult Stem Cell Research Treats Spinal Cord Injury Patient

Paraplegic Breakthrough Using Adult Stem Cells For Spinal Cord Repair
Pioneer In Spinal Cord Injury Recovery To Visit Rim
Techniques Push Stem Cells To Repair Damaged Nerves
Ethical Stem Cell Surgery Gave Paraplegic, Erica Nader, Ability To Walk Briefly 3 Yrs. Later
Adult Stem Cell Surgery May Have Teen Walking Again Soon
Growing Nerve Cells From Hair Follicles
Spinal Cord Patient Speaks Out: Embryonic Stem Cell Helps Patents Not Patients
Canadian Tries Russian Stem Cell Treatment
Adult Stem Cell Research Treats Spinal Cord Injury Patient
Non Embryonic Stem Cell Treatment Allows Paralyzed Brazilian To Walk, Talk Again
Paralyzed Man Given Hope By Experimental Surgery (Stem Cells From His Own Sinuses To Be Used)
Adult Stem Cells (Nasal Cells) Help Paralyzed 18 Year Old To Walk
Regenerating Hope For A Paralysis Cure (Macrophages Are Injected Into The Spinal Cord)
Doctors In Russia Prove That Non-Embryonic Stem Cells Can Be Used In Treating Spinal Cord Injuries
Family Pins Hopes For Son On Stem-Cell Shots Cerebral Palsy, Cord Blood
New Findings Support Promise Of Using Stem Cells (Adult Bone Marrow) To Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases
Disability Rights Advocate Backs Bush Embryonic Stem Cell Research Bill Veto (Joni Eareckson Tada)

Making Brain Cells With Adult Hair Follicle Cells
Paralyzed farmer puts his faith in stem cell transplant Dr. Lima
Different Adult Stem Cell Treatments, with Umbilical Cord Cells, Produce Results For 2 Spinal Cord Injury Patients In China
Celling the Elixir of life
Scientists plan China, HK, Taiwan stem cell trial
Man walks, courtesy stem cell therapy
Adult Stem Cells Found in Hair Follicles
Real-World Successes of Adult Stem Cell Treatments
In Young Rats, Researchers Find a Reaction to Spinal Cord Injury That Speeds Recovery
Celling a Strategy, Opposition to embryo-destroying research is not a losing issue
Adult Stem Cells: It's Not Pie-in-the-Sky
Aborted Baby Stem Cells in Mouse Experiments a Medical and Ethical Disaster
Paraplegic breakthrough using adult stem cells
Adult Stem Cells Provide New Life for Livers
Adult stem cells help paralysed 18 year old to walk
Embryonic Stem Cells Have Never Been Used To Treat Anyone And No Plans Exist To Do So

There Is No Need To Do Barbaric Research And Kill Human Beings In The Embryonic Stage to facilitate research on Nerve Regeneration. Adult Stem Cells Work.

*In 2000, Israeli Scientists at Proneuron Implanted Melissa Holley's White Blood Cells Into Her Spinal Cord To Treat The Paraplegia Caused When Her Spinal Cord Was Severed In An Auto Accident. Melissa, Who Is 18, Has Since Regained Control Over Her Bladder And Recovered Significant Motor Function In Her Limbs - She Can Now Move Her Legs And Toes, Although She Cannot Yet Walk.

This Is Exactly The Kind Of Therapy That Embryonic-Stem-Cell Proponents Promise - Years Down The Road.

Yet Melissa's Breakthrough Was Met With Collective Yawns In The Biased, liberal, pro-abortion, socialist Press (MSM) With The Exception of a few outlets. Non-Embryonic Stem Cells May Be As Common As Beach Sand.

America, We Need To Talk ©
By Marvin Galloway
[Manuscript to discuss ESCR, cloning, and abortion, from / for a layperson’s perspective]

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