Word: geron
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...trial, which will test a stem-cell-based treatment for spinal-cord injury, will begin later this summer and will use cells generated by Geron Corp. The approval marks the first time human stem cells, extracted and grown from embryos, will be transplanted into patients. Adult stem cells, which are present in many types of tissue, have been used in treatments for years - the most common being bone-marrow transplants in cancer care - but an embryonic study is a whole new thing. There's a good reason it's being greeted with so much excitement. (See the top 10 medical...
...cells in generating the more than 200 different tissue types in the body. The need for healthy new cells is particularly acute in the case of spinal-cord injury, because once central-nervous-system tissue is destroyed, it does not regenerate - not in any significant way, at least. The Geron team began its work with what is known as a presidential stem-cell line - stem cells derived from discarded in vitro-fertilization embryos that already existed in 2001 when then President Bush decided to prohibit the use of federal funds to pursue human embryonic-stem-cell work. At the time...
...therapy revolves around coaxing the stem cells to develop into a type of cell known as an oligodendrocyte, which in turn gives rise to critical insulation and growth factors that can repair neurons damaged by a trauma to the spinal cord. Geron has named its version GRNOPC1. By having more of these cells around the spinal cord, more nerves might be repaired and can then potentially re-establish proper connections. Simply by working with the GRNOPC1 cells, Geron scientists have learned more about how they operate, which will expand their understanding of how the central nervous system might be healed...
...pancreatic islet cells. But so far, no human ESCs have been differentiated reliably enough that they could be safely transplanted into people, although animal studies with human cells are under way. Not surprisingly, the groups closest to human trials are in the biotech industry, which operates without government funds. Geron claims it is close to filing for permission to conduct the first human trials relying on ESC-based therapy. It is using stem cells to create oligodendroglial progenitor cells, which produce neurons and provide myelin insulation for the long fingers that extend out from the body of a nerve cell...
Archbishop Geron Iakovos, leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America for 37 years and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, died on April 10 from a pulmonary ailment...