Word: geron
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...Working to unlock the secrets of life and death, the heroes in this tale develop a powerful enzyme with the potential to rejuvenate the human body's aging tissues. But this is no sci-fi fantasy. It is an experiment sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the Geron biotech company of Menlo Park, Calif., and a report on the research appeared in last week's issue of the prestigious journal Science. Not surprisingly, when word of the study first hit Wall Street, Geron's share price jumped 40%, to close at 14 3/8, and press bulletins heralded...
Such possibilities, to be sure, are speculative, but that didn't stop Wall Street, where the stock of Geron Corp., a small biotech company based in Menlo Park, Calif., that helped Cech's group discover the gene, more than doubled, to 1618 a share. In fact, Geron researchers have been looking for antitelomerase compounds for several years, using indirect-screening methods. Because tumor cells--the main source of the human enzyme--produce it in vanishingly small quantities, the scientists lacked pure telomerase, which could have sped the search for drugs that might be used against...
With the new gene in hand, the researchers should be able to churn out at will the protein for which it provides the genetic blueprint. That protein, they believe, is telomerase's most important building block. "For us," exults Calvin Harley, Geron's chief scientist, "it's like having access to an organism's brain...
...will materialize now seem high. But experts caution that it could take years before the first telomerase inhibitors are ready to be tested on humans to determine if they'll have any serious side effects--or if they'll actually inhibit tumor growth. Such questions are perhaps one reason Geron's stock leveled off at week's end, closing at 12 1/4 a share...
Still other researchers are using what they've learned about telomeres and the other cellular mechanisms to attack the diseases that keep the very old from becoming still older. Researchers at Geron Pharmaceuticals recently published a study in which telomerase RNA was used to block the enzyme in a cancer culture, leading to withering of telomeres and the death of the no-longer-so-prolific cells. Elsewhere, investigators are looking into using the anticaramelization drug pimagedine to help clear arteries and improve cardiac health. Remove heart disease from the constellation of late-life illnesses, and you add three years...