Geron has the first US Food and Drug Administration license
to use the controversial cells to treat people, in this case patients with new
spinal cord injuries.
"The patient was enrolled at Shepherd Center, a 132-bed
spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital and clinical research
center in Atlanta, Georgia," Geron said in a statement.
"Shepherd Center is one of seven potential sites in the
United States that may enroll patients in the clinical trial."
Geron has the first US Food and Drug Administration license
to use the controversial cells to treat people, in this case patients with new
spinal cord injuries. Following are some facts about stem cells:
* Stem cells are the body's master cells, the source of all
cells and tissue, including brain, blood, heart, bones and muscles.
* Embryonic stem cells come from days-old embryos and can
produce any type of cell in the body.
* Scientists generally harvest embryonic stem cells from
embryos left over after in-vitro fertilization attempts at fertility clinics.
They can also be produced using cloning technology. Geron worked with IVF
surplus embryos.
* Scientists hope to harness the transformational qualities
of stem cells to treat a variety of diseases, including injuries, cancer and
diabetes.
* Geron's cells will be used to treat patients with recent
spinal cord injuries in the hope the cells can help heal the damaged nerves
before disability becomes permanent.
* The issue has been controversial because some people
believe the destruction of any human embryo is wrong.
* US legislation called the Dickey-Wicker Amendment forbids
the use of federal funds for the creation or destruction of human embryos for
research.
* President George W. Bush restricted the use of federal
funds to only a few batches of already-existing human embryonic stem cells in
2001. President Barack Obama lifted the restriction in 2009 and asked the
National Institutes of Health to decide which embryonic stem cells could be
used in federally funded research.
* A federal judge in August enjoined the NIH from paying for
human embryonic stem cell research after a lawsuit by two researchers who said
the Obama Administration's funding of the work violated Dickey-Wicker and took
money away from other types of stem cell research.
* A US appeals court allowed federal funding to continue
last month pending the outcome of the case.
* States such as California, New York, Connecticut,
Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey acted on their own to fund
this research during the years of the Bush restrictions. Institutions such as
Harvard University also set up separate operations to pursue the research using
private money.
* Many other companies are pursuing stem cell research
including Stemcells Inc, Advanced Cell Technology, NeuralStem, Aastrom
Biosciences Inc, Reneuron Group Plc, Osiris Therapeutics Inc, Neostem Inc,
Cytori Therapeutics Inc, iZumi Bio Inc and International Stem Cell Corp.
* Researchers have discovered how to make embryonic-like
cells from ordinary cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells. Opponents of
embryonic stem cell research say research can focus on this field, but most
experts in the field agree that all approaches must be pursued.
