Less than three months after first receiving permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with stem-cell treatment, Geron – a privately funded firm – announced that they have begun treating their first patient.
The is the first-ever clinical trial of human embryonic stem cell-based therapy on a human patient and it involves injecting a stem-cell treatment into patients with severe spinal cord injury with the hope that it will help damaged nerve cells regrow and eventually allow patients to regain movement.
"Initiating the … clinical trial is a milestone for the field of human embryonic stem cell-based therapies," commented Dr. Thomas B. Okarma, Geron's president and CEO.
The study has been described as the "dawn" of a new age of medicine, because if it is successful it could be the "catalyst" to open up stem cell treatments for all kinds of conditions from nerve damage, to Alzheimer's disease to diabetes. Thus, the results of the procedure will be eagerly awaited around the world by doctors and scientists working in regenerative medicines.
Embryonic stem cells are master cells found in human embryos, which give rise to more than 200 specialised types of tissue in the adult body, and can be grown into any kind of tissue to replace cells damaged by injury or disease.
However, the use of embryonic stem cells is highly controversial since they must be harvested from human embryos that are destroyed in the process. This raises moral concerns from groups who believe that embryos have the same rights as humans and see the treatment as unethical.
Geron stated that only one patient had been admitted to their program and refused to give any details regarding identity, name and sex other than to confirm the patient had suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury.
(Image is of an embryonic stem cell in an extracellular matrix).