FDA allows stem cell testing

Therapies based on human embryonic stem cells could be used to treat paralysis, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes
Mark Henderson, The Times, January 23, 2009
Stem cells will give hope to accident victims
Translation: Inopressa

As The Times has learned, a legal restriction on the use of embryonic stem cells in clinical practice will be lifted in the United States today. New methods of treating paralyzed patients will be introduced this summer, correspondent Mark Henderson reports.

Doctors hope "that the transplanted cells will stimulate the regeneration of damaged nerve tissue, thereby restoring sensitivity and mobility" in people paralyzed below the chest. Therapy will begin no later than two weeks from the moment of injury, which led to paralysis. If successful, these tests promise to be the beginning of a new era in medicine, the head of Geron Corporation, which developed the treatment course, Thomas Okarma, is convinced.

The Times recalls that George W. Bush, under pressure from the religious lobby, reduced Geron Corporation's funding to a minimum in 2001, and in 2006 used his veto power to prevent an increase in subsidies. Despite the fact that the US Food and Drug Administration does not formally depend on the White House, the lifting of restrictions eloquently testifies to the "new approach" of the Obama administration to the problem of stem cells, the publication notes.

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26.01.2009