FDA approves human embryonic stem cell study

CNN ^ | January 23, 2009

[NYer]

(CNN) -- Federal regulators have cleared the way for the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research, authorizing researchers to test whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients, the company behind the trials announced Friday.

The tests could begin by summer, said Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of the Geron Corporation. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the trials, which will use human stem cells authorized for research by then-President George W. Bush in 2001.

The patients will be those with the most severe spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries.

"A complete spinal cord injury has no hope of recovery below the injury," Okarma told CNN. "This is significant because it's the first clinical trial of a human embryonic-based product." The primary purpose of the trial will be to see whether injecting these cells into patients is safe, but Okarma said researchers will also look for any signs of recovery. Scientists will monitor the patients for a year after the injections to see if they are regaining any function below the injured point.

"If there is any movement below the injury, they will measure that and record it," he said.

[NYer]

Embryonic stem cells are blank cells found in four- to five-day-old embryos, which have the ability to turn into any cell in the body. However, when stem cells are removed, the embryo is destroyed -- which has made this one of the most controversial medical research fields in the past decade.

Federal research funds were prohibited for embryonic stem-cell research until August 2001, when Bush approved spending for research using only already-existing cell lines. Scientists later discovered that fewer than two dozen of those lines were useful for research, but abortion opponents opposed any legislation that would lift Bush's restrictions, and Bush twice vetoed congressional efforts to roll back his rules.

---

And it's only day 3 of the new administration!

Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[mvpel]

Cannibals - consuming other humans for their own sustenance.

[RichInOC]

I CAN HAS BABY?

[Saundra Duffy]

End times alert

[Desdemona]

Maybe not end times, but definitely time for a chastisement, a la Soddom.

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Not saying that it's right in any way shape or form, but it was bound to happen. As embryonic stem cells turn into any sort of cell, as I understand it, the issue is control. We'll see what starts growing in people's spines - and how it will be covered up.

[livius]

I notice that Obama avoided issuing the order overturning the Mexico City rule, and I think he is actually a little intimidated by the bishops and the united front (generally) they have presented. Obama is afraid of them because he knows that many of them are onto him and know how radically anti-Christian his agenda is. He wants to avoid calling their attention again and getting into a fight he can’t win.

But watch for more things like this to happen: administrative decisions, slipped out quietly and without fanfare, that will go along steadily, one by one, overturning all protections on human life. But he’s going to keep his head down and just make it seem like the automatic workings of the bureaucracy, independent of him and for which he takes no public responsibility.

[chris_bdba]

Snake oil! I can only imagine what kind of suffering this is going to offer for those who are so desparate to volunteer for this study.

[NYer]

Obama is afraid of them because he knows that many of them are onto him and know how radically anti-Christian his agenda is. He wants to avoid calling their attention again and getting into a fight he can’t win.

According to a French magazine, he carries a Miraculous Medal in his pocket. Whether he does so out of superstition or not, we 'know' the power of Mary's intercession. We must continue to pray for him and all the members of Congress.

[Eagle of Liberty]

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Not saying that it's right in any way shape or form, but it was bound to happen. As embryonic stem cells turn into any sort of cell, as I understand it, the issue is control. We'll see what starts growing in people's spines - and how it will be covered up.

Stem cell research using stem cells from OTHER sources of the human body like bone marrow and unbilical cords has garnered some tremendous results. EMBRYONIC stem cell research has been very unsuccessful. There is only ONE reason to continue to do EMBRYONIC stem cell research. I will leave it to you to draw that conclusion.

[TASMANIANRED]

Satan is very, very active..

Not only immoral but it is a waste of money.

[Desdemona]

Hey, I can do an entire treatise on stem cells if I had to. Embryonic stem cells cannot be controlled. That is why there has only been one human trial with disastrous results - they turn into any sort of tissue anywhere.

What's appalling is the false hope that's being perpetuated.

The reason to do embryonic stem cell research, that I can see based on the lab scientists that I know (and that's a sizable number) is glory and fame. Those are just as addictive as money. The scientist that actually makes it work, will have it all.

[Coleus]

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]