| From: Savant | 7/29/2011 12:15:19 AM | | | | | | GERN- CC29th & 2011 Second Quarter Financial Results and Events
MENLO PARK, Calif., Jul 28, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Geron Corporation (GERN)
today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30,
2011.
For the second quarter of 2011, the company reported a net loss of $21.1 million,
or $0.17 per share, compared to $17.0 million, or $0.18 per share, for the
comparable 2010 period. Net loss for the first six months of 2011 was $45.5
million, or $0.37 per share, compared to $33.7 million, or $0.35 per share, for
the comparable 2010 period. The company ended the quarter with $192.2 million in
cash and investments.
Revenues for the second quarter of 2011 were $462,000, compared to $1.0 million
for the comparable 2010 period. Revenues for the first six months of 2011 were
$2.0 million, compared to $1.9 million for the comparable 2010 period. Revenues
for the second quarter and year-to-date periods of 2011 and 2010 included funding
from collaboration agreements and royalty and license fee revenues under various
agreements.
Interest and other income for the second quarter of 2011 amounted to $287,000,
compared to $194,000 for the comparable 2010 period. Interest and other income
for the first six months of 2011 was $583,000, compared to $396,000 for the
comparable 2010 period which reflects the increase in cash and investment
balances. The company has not incurred any impairment charges on its marketable
debt securities portfolio.
Total operating expenses for the second quarter of 2011 were $21.9 million,
compared to $17.9 million for the comparable 2010 period. Research and
development expenses for the second quarter of 2011 were $16.5 million, compared
to $13.4 million for the comparable 2010 period. General and administrative
expenses for the second quarter of 2011 were $5.3 million, compared to $4.5
million for the comparable 2010 period.
Total operating expenses for the first six months of 2011 were $47.7 million,
compared to $35.3 million for the comparable 2010 period. Research and
development expenses for the first six months of 2011 were $33.3 million,
compared to $26.9 million for the comparable 2010 period. General and
administrative expenses for the first six months of 2011 were $14.4 million,
compared to $8.3 million for the comparable 2010 period.
Research and development expenses increased for the three and six month periods
ending June 30, 2011, compared to the same periods in 2010, as a result of higher
clinical drug product purchases and increased clinical trial expenses related to
initiation and enrollment of four oncology Phase 2 clinical trials of imetelstat
and the Phase 1 clinical trial for GRNOPC1 in patients with spinal cord injury.
The company expects research and development expenses to increase in the future
with the continued enrollment in the imetelstat Phase 2 trials and GRNOPC1 Phase
1 trial and the initiation of the GRN1005 Phase 2 clinical trials in patients
with brain metastases. General and administrative expenses increased for the
three and six month periods ending June 30, 2011, compared to the same periods in
2010, primarily due to higher non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
Second Quarter 2011 Highlights:
GRNOPC1 Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Spinal Cord Injury
-- Geron was awarded $25.0 million by the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine (CIRM) to support the clinical development of GRNOPC1, Geron's cell
therapy containing oligodendrocyte progenitor cells derived from human embryonic
stem cells (hESCs), currently in a Phase 1 trial in patients with spinal cord
injury. This is the first funding ever awarded by CIRM to support a clinical
trial since the agency was established in 2004. CIRM funding will provide
matching support in the form of a product-backed loan for clinical trial costs,
non-clinical studies, analytical development and the manufacture of cells for
clinical trials.
-- A second subject was enrolled and received GRNOPC1 in the ongoing Phase 1
clinical trial in patients with spinal cord injury. GRNOPC1 was administered by
investigators at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine, one of the seven participating clinical sites open
to patient enrollment.
-- Early data from the first two patients in the Phase 1 clinical trial showed no
safety concerns with no serious adverse events. The data included Day 180
follow-up assessments of the first patient to receive GRNOPC1. The data were
presented at the 2011 International Conference on Spinal Cord Medicine and
Rehabilitation and at the 2011 Spine Symposium, which was held as part of The
American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Annual Scientific Meeting.
-- Based on the early safety data from the Phase 1 clinical trial, Geron received
clearance from the FDA to expand the eligibility criteria to allow inclusion of a
wider range of patients. Patients with injuries resulting in a neurological level
of T11, which represent a substantial proportion of thoracic injuries, are now
eligible for the trial in addition to injuries between spinal segments T3 and T10
in the original criteria. The FDA also allowed the 30-day stagger between
enrollment of patients in the trial to be reduced to 10 days.
Imetelstat
-- The joint ASCO/AACR session at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting was titled,
"Telomeres and Telomerase in Cancer," highlighting the importance of telomerase
as a target for developing novel cancer therapies. Imetelstat, Geron's telomerase
inhibitor drug currently in Phase 2 clinical trials in four different cancers,
was featured in a presentation by Kathy D. Miller, M.D., Associate Professor and
Sheila D. Ward Scholar at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer
Center and lead investigator of the company's ongoing Phase 2 study in patients
with breast cancer. The special session also included a presentation by the
session co-chair, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D., joint-winner of the 2009 Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discoveries in the field of telomere
biology and telomerase, and a former Geron collaborator.
-- At the Jefferies 2011 Global Healthcare Conference in New York City in June,
an update on the Phase 2 clinical program was provided. Patient enrollment in the
two larger randomized clinical trials of imetelstat in patients with non-small
cell lung cancer and breast cancer is proceeding ahead of projections.
Senior Management Appointments
-- Melanie I. Nallicheri joined Geron as Senior Vice President, Corporate
Development. In her role, Ms. Nallicheri is responsible for overall strategic
planning, development of business plans, product/market competitive analyses,
commercialization strategies and pharmaceutical company alliances across
programs.
-- A number of appointments were made within the senior management team to
reflect Geron's clinical development stage and focus. Stephen Kelsey, M.D., was
appointed Executive Vice President, Head of Research & Development and Chief
Medical Officer; Jane Lebkowski, Ph.D., became Senior Vice President and Geron's
Chief Scientific Officer; and Melissa Kelly Behrs was appointed to Senior Vice
President, Strategic Portfolio Management.
Conference Call
At 8:00 a.m. PDT/11:00 a.m. EDT on July 29, 2011, David L. Greenwood, Geron's
president, will host a conference call to discuss the company's second quarter
and year-to-date results.
Participants can access the conference call live via telephone by dialing
800-591-6944 (U.S.); 617-614-4910 (international). The passcode is 38893153. If
accessing the conference call by telephone, please dial in at least 10 minutes
early to minimize any delay in joining the call. A live audio-only Webcast is
also available through a link that is posted on the events page in the investor
relations section of Geron's Web site at geron.com. The audio webcast
of the conference call will be available for replay approximately one hour
following the live broadcast through August 30, 2011.
About Geron
Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer
and chronic degenerative diseases. The company is advancing anti-cancer therapies
through multiple Phase 2 clinical trials in different cancers by targeting the
enzyme telomerase and with a compound designed to penetrate the blood-brain
barrier (BBB). The company is developing cell therapy products from
differentiated human embryonic stem cells for multiple indications, including
central nervous system (CNS) disorders, heart failure, diabetes and
osteoarthritis, and has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial in spinal cord injury.
For more information, visit geron.com.
Use of Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the
"safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release regarding potential
applications of Geron's telomerase, oncology, and human embryonic stem cell
technologies, including plans and expectations for future clinical development
and future operating results, constitute forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the
development and commercialization of potential products, the uncertainty and
preliminary nature of clinical trial results or regulatory approvals or
clearances, need to raise additional capital, dependence upon collaborators and
protection of our intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ
materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.
Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and
other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Geron's periodic
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Geron's
quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011. Undue
reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date they are made, and, except as required by law, Geron disclaims any
obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or
circumstances.
GERON CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(UNAUDITED)
THREE MONTHS ENDEDSIX MONTHS ENDED
JUNE 30,JUNE 30,
----------------------------------------------------------
(In thousands, except share and2011201020112010
------------------------------------------
per share data)
Revenues from collaborative agreements$150$225$300$450
License fees and royalties3127761,6671,469
------------------------------------------
Total revenues4621,0011,9671,919
Operating expenses:
Research and development16,54413,38933,29926,934
General and administrative5,3344,48814,4408,338
------------------------------------------
Total operating expenses21,87817,87747,73935,272
------------------------------------------
Loss from operations(21,416)(16,876)(45,772)(33,353)
Unrealized gain on derivatives, net240172279230
Interest and other income287194583396
Losses recognized under equity method investment(168)(496)(503)(892)
Interest and other expense(31)(25)(64)(52)
----------- ------------ ------------- ------------ --
Net loss$(21,088)$(17,031)$(45,477)$(33,671)
== =========== ==== ========== ==== =========== ==== ========== ==
Basic and diluted net loss per share$(0.17)$(0.18)$(0.37)$(0.35)
== =========== ==== ========== ==== =========== ==== ========== ==
Shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share124,579,19096,712,059123,838,95995,862,080
== =========== ==== ========== ==== =========== ==== ========== ==
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
JUNE 30,DECEMBER 31,
(In thousands)20112010
-------------------------
(Unaudited)(Note 1)
Current assets:
Cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents$32,812$46,764
Current marketable securities119,756140,599
Other current assets4,6267,654
--------------
Total current assets157,194195,017
Noncurrent marketable securities39,59233,911
Property and equipment, net2,5143,088
Deposits and other assets1,0301,568
--------------
$ 200,330$ 233,584
===== ============= =======
Current liabilities$9,270$40,849
Stockholders' equity191,060192,735
--------------
$ 200,330$ 233,584
===== ============= =======
Note 1: Derived from audited financial statements included in the company's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.
SOURCE: Geron Corporation
Geron Corporation
Anna Krassowska, Ph.D., 650-473-7765
Investor and Media Relations
info@geron.com |
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| From: Savant | 9/1/2011 11:00:24 AM | | | | | | reuters.com
(Reuters) - A pioneering clinical trial to inject stem cells into the brains of patients disabled by stroke has been cleared to progress to the next stage after the treatment raised no safety concerns in the first three candidates. ReNeuron Group PLC, the British biotech behind the trial, said the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board had reviewed safety data from its ReN001 stem cell therapy and recommended the trial advance to the higher dose.
"Data from the laboratory safety tests, neurological examinations and neurofunctional tests conducted thus far indicate that the ReN001 treatment is safe and well-tolerated at the initial dose," the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The procedure involves injecting ReNeuron's neural stem cells into patients' brains in the hope they will repair areas damaged by stroke, thereby improving both mental and physical function.
It uses stem cells derived from human fetuses rather than embryos, which were used in a stem cell trial to treat patients with spinal cord injuries by Geron Corp of the United States.
ReNeuron's chief executive Michael Hunt said the clearance was an important milestone, and the preliminary data also backed up the group's other therapeutic programs using the CTX neural stem cell line that formed the basis of the ReN001 stroke treatment.
The principal investigator for the trial, Keith Muir from the University of Glasgow's Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, said he looked forward to evaluating further patients at a higher dose.
"ReN001 has the potential to address a very significant unmet medical need in disabled stroke patients and I am pleased that our team is involved in this pioneering clinical trial," he said.
Shares in ReNeuron rose 3.3 percent in early trade.
Analysts at Matrix said ReNeuron was making excellent progress within the trial, which it believed could set the company apart from other stem-cell companies in the field, given the other advantages it has in terms of manufacturing, scalability and the off-the-shelf nature of the technology.
"The data generated thus far are all the more remarkable, in our view, given the fact that the patients receiving the cells have not been subject to immunosuppression" they said in a note.
"We look forward to the data from the next cohort within this study."
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford) |
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| To: Savant who wrote (3307) | 9/2/2011 1:15:02 PM | | From: FJB | | | | Rick Perry's Stem Cell Opportunity
A post-partisan issue emerges for 2012.
September 2, 2011 - 12:04 am - by Julia Szabo
I am one of a growing number of Americans who find themselves increasingly frustrated with the low-tech surgical options available in this country for certain chronic medical conditions. To achieve an improved quality of life I’m willing to travel abroad for treatment, despite the fact that it’s not covered by health insurance providers. I’m in high-profile company: in early July Texas’ governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry traveled outside the United States to undergo spinal fusion surgery. The procedure included an injection of his own, adult (autologous) stem cells.
Unfortunately for his fellow Americans whose lives would be greatly improved by access to sophisticated stem cell therapy, the mainstream media is treating Perry as it does every other American who bravely goes in search of non-FDA-approved stem cell treatment: not like a pioneer, but a “medical tourist.” As we’ve seen before, the MSM botches all discussions of this important topic, grossly slacking in its duty to report medical advances fairly and accurately, wherever and however they occur.
And so, recent weeks have seen a flurry of news stories frowning on Perry’s decision: “ Doctors Question Perry’s stem cell back treatment” (AP) … “Doctors Wary of Perry’s Stem Cell Treatment” (The Boston Globe)… “Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Stem Cell Surgery Worries Some…” (L.A. Times)… “Texas Gov. Rick Perry Received Experimental Stem Cell Treatment” (ABC News) … “Rick Perry’s Stem Cell Treatment Causes Medical, Legal Concerns” (Xinhua) … “Rick Perry’s Stem Cell Surgery Could Lead to Quackery” (International Business Times).
As is usually the case with any MSM discussion of stem cell regeneration therapy — especially high-profile cases like Perry’s — the tone of these articles is one of high anxiety and disapproval. Never mind that adult stem cells have been used successfully in countries other than the United States to improve the lives of people with multiple sclerosis and other debilitating diseases. The MSM may be counted on to ridicule and tsk-tsk stem cell success stories, dismissing them as “experimental” and “controversial” (read: dangerous) or outright “quackery.”
MSM news outlets don’t bother to be fair or balanced. They cannot bring themselves to admit that in the past five years more than 50,000 scientific studies on stem cells were published and posted in the National Institutes of Health medical library, according to America’s leading adult stem cell scientist, Dr. Christian Drapeau, MSc, author of Cracking the Stem Cell Code and Stem Cell Theory of Renewal. They don’t bother to float the suggestion that maybe, just maybe, stem cell regeneration therapy is not quackery at all.
No, the MSM is too busy quoting the ISSCR — the International Society for Stem Cell Research — whose members all support embryonic stem cell research and slam adult stem cell medicine. The ISSCR happens to be the MSM’s go-to quote factory. Here’s Dr. George Q. Daley of Children’s Hospital Boston and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, a past president of ISSCR, on the governor’s decision to undergo adult stem cell treatment, as quoted by AP:
As a highly influential person of power, Perry’s actions have the unfortunate potential to push desperate patients into the clinics of quacks. … I would never in a million years accept for one of my family members to undergo this.
Substituting opinion for facts, most of the recent articles on Perry’s procedure neglect to mention the names and exact locations of the hospitals that offer adult stem cell treatment — you’d think they would, just to start a guessing game — and Perry isn’t talking. Instead of making it hard for readers to find the doctors who could help them, the MSM should rather do a public service by featuring the facilities around the globe that are pioneering this health technology.
Perry knew exactly where to go: outside the country. A longtime proponent of adult stem cell medicine, Perry urged the Texas Medical Board to consider enhancing the state’s position on adult stem cell research. In his 2009 State of the State address, Perry called for greater investment in the adult stem cell industry and displayed real leadership material:
Let’s get Texas in on the ground floor and invest in adult stem cell research, the one area of that field that is actually proven to expedite cures. Expertise in this emerging and increasingly promising field will not only bring healing to the suffering and create jobs for Texans, it will also establish an appropriate firewall protecting the unborn from exploitation.
It’s refreshing to hear a presidential candidate discuss this topic with such clarity. The MSM, on the other hand, spreads confusion about cell medicine, promoting the widespread misconception that all stem cells come from dead fetuses and treating all adult stem cell procedures like so many back-alley abortions — even if the patient is a right-wing Christian presidential candidate. In fact, the MSM studiously avoids the subject of stem cells — unless, that is, you’re talking embryonic stem cells.
These are the controversial cells, harvested from dead human fetuses, that most people presume to be the foundation of all cell medicine. For the MSM, embryonic stem cells are not quackery; they are cool, cutting-edge, sexy. They are headline-grabbers. They have the highly mediagenic property of “pluripotency” – i.e., the ability to morph into any type of cell in the body. Adult stem cells are proven more effective and less risky than embryonic cells. And yet, only embryonic stem cells and their supporters merit coverage in the MSM, despite the fact that fetal cells do not perform successfully in clinical trials, as adult stem cells do.
As we’ve seen before, pro-life doesn’t have to mean anti-science. The Vatican — which opposes embryonic stem cell research for the obvious reason that it involves the destruction of human fetuses — strongly supports adult stem cell research.
The MSM is biased against compelling facts like these. Instead of hailing this moment in medical history as the first to see science and religion on the same page, the MSM remains queasy about reporting on non-embryonic stem cells that are pro-life. Doing so would blur a church-state line by promoting a medical therapy approved by religious entities and individuals.
But adult stem cells aren’t just ethically correct, as Perry points out; they are more therapeutically effective than embryonic cells which replicate indefinitely (not unlike cancer cells). There’s a wide generation gap between adult tissue and embryonic cells, as Dr. Fabio Solano, a Costa Rican physician, explains: “Adult stem cells play a natural role in repair of damaged tissue in the adult; in contrast, fetal stem cells do not properly ‘know’ how to communicate with adult tissue.” Plus, when harvested from the patient’s own fat, adult stem cells carry no risk of rejection.
Like so many patients who have experienced first-hand the healing power of adult stem cells, Perry has an opportunity — a divine calling, if you will — to become a medical evangelist, to speak out on behalf of Americans like himself who would also benefit from cellular medicine. Let’s hope he will make the most of it by 1) morally supporting his fellow Americans who also seek medical help that simply isn’t available in the United States; 2) putting pressure on the FDA to approve the medical use of adult stem cells, pronto; and 3) strategizing a viable plan for increasing employment opportunity by keeping American patient spending on U.S. shores.
What the governor has here is a rare opportunity to win new followers on both sides of the political fence. Voters on the Christian Right are an easy sell — it so happens that many Americans who travel abroad for stem cell therapy are, like Perry, devout Christian churchgoers — but I wager that even some agnostic Democrats would started taking “Governor Goodhair” seriously too, especially if they or their loved ones are coping with a chronic disease that can most efficiently be treated with adult stem cells.
I voted for Obama (I know, I know), but I’ll campaign for Perry if he makes a solemn promise to get adult stem cells approved by the FDA.
Journalist and author Julia Szabo wrote the Pets column for the Sunday New York Post, for 11 years and now pens the "Living With Dogs" column for Dogster.com. Follow her on Twitter @PetReporter1
pajamasmedia.com
Perry, Allies Lay Groundwork for TX Stem Cell Industry by Emily Ramshaw 8/4/2011 
Over the last two months, Rick Perry, a state representative with multiple sclerosis and the spine surgeon who performed the governor's July 1 adult stem cell infusion have been laying the foundation for the commercialization of the controversial procedure in Texas.
In the month before Dr. Stanley Jones injected Perry with his own lab-grown stem cells during a spinal fusion — designed to speed recovery of the possible presidential hopeful’s back injury — lawmakers passed a health care bill that quietly authorized creation of a state adult stem cell bank. That amendment was added, with input from the governor’s office, by Rep. Rick Hardcastle, R-Vernon, who has MS and says he is about to start receiving stem cell infusions from Jones as part of a new human trial.
And in the weeks since Perry’s stem cell infusion, the Texas Medical Board has held a stakeholder meeting — largely at the governor's and Jones’ direction — to discuss how to regulate the procedure in Texas. It’s pretty clear where Perry stands: Two days before last week’s Medical Board meeting, Perry sent a letter to the board chair espousing the economic and life-altering potential of adult stem cells and asking members to recognize “the sound science and good work that is already being done” as they consider new regulations.
Injecting patients with their own stem cells is a hotly debated practice: While some physicians swear by the procedure’s restorative properties, others argue it has little clinical evidence of success. The procedure has sparked a national debate over where doctors’ medical autonomy ends and FDA regulation begins.
Central to the debate in Texas is Jones, a Houston orthopedic surgeon and personal friend of both Perry's and Hardcastle's who believes he was cured of debilitating arthritis by having an infusion of his own stem cells in Japan. Jones is working, along with a Korean company best known for cloning dogs and marketing “stem cell cosmetics,” to launch the adult stem cell business in Texas.
A first step could be a stem cell bank. The amendment Hardcastle stuck onto an omnibus health care bill during June’s special session authorizes the state’s health and human services commissioner to establish an “autologous” adult stem cell bank — meaning a place for patients to store their own stem cells for future use.
Hardcastle said the governor’s office didn’t ask him to carry it — as the only member of the Legislature with MS, he said, it’s been on his mind for “a long time” — but one of the governor’s staffers did advise him on it. Somewhat involved, Hardcastle said, was Jones, who has already removed some of Hardcastle’s stem cells to prepare them for re-injection.
A spokeswoman with the Health and Human Services Commission said the agency is in the very early stages of considering whether to create the stem cell bank. A few weeks ago, the agency received a letter from Houston Reps. Beverly Woolley, a Republican, and Senfronia Thompson, a Democrat, expressing their “serious concern” with the measure, for fear it might hinder the work of public and private scientists.
Meanwhile, Texas Medical Board spokeswoman Leigh Hopper said the regulatory agency held a stem cell stakeholder meeting last week — “at the governor’s behest, via Dr. Jones” — to start dialogue about adult stem cell treatments in Texas. The question? If Americans are — like Jones — increasingly flying all over the world to get promising stem cell treatments, shouldn’t Texas be a scientific and economic center for it?
Perry wrote as much in a letter he sent to Texas Medical Board president Irvin Zeitler Jr., two days before the stakeholder meeting, and three weeks after his own infusion.
“It is my hope that Texas will become the world’s leader in the research and use of adult stem cells,” he wrote.
texastribune.org
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| To: FJB who wrote (3308) | 9/3/2011 10:48:04 AM | | From: XenaLives | | | | That piece doesn't seem to be well researched, or it was a political pump piece.
"It’s refreshing to hear a presidential candidate discuss this topic with such clarity. The MSM, on the other hand, spreads confusion about cell medicine, promoting the widespread misconception that all stem cells come from dead fetuses and treating all adult stem cell procedures like so many back-alley abortions — even if the patient is a right-wing Christian presidential candidate. In fact, the MSM studiously avoids the subject of stem cells — unless, that is, you’re talking embryonic stem cells. "
VS this:
"The procedure involves injecting ReNeuron's neural stem cells into patients' brains in the hope they will repair areas damaged by stroke, thereby improving both mental and physical function.
It uses stem cells derived from human fetuses rather than embryos, which were used in a stem cell trial to treat patients with spinal cord injuries by Geron Corp of the United States. "
siliconinvestor.com
The fact is that a great deal of "adult" stem cell research derives the cells from human fetuses.
"Moral Issues Surrounding the Sources of Stem Cells At present, there are three possible sources of stem cells: adult stem cells derived from pediatric or adult donors; embryo germ cell stem cells ( EG cells) derived from aborted fetuses; and embryonic stem cells ( ES cells) derived from disaggregated preimplantation embryos. The first of these sources poses no special ethical problems for the majority of people. Adults and children can donate tissue so long as the appropriate conditions of consent are respected. Individuals who do not object to induced abortion will be less concerned about the use of EG cells than those opposed to abortion.
The least ethically problematic case would be to harvest stem cells from spontaneously aborted fetuses. There are, however, several obstacles to obtaining useful EG cells from spontaneously aborted tissue. Foremost is the problem of the harvesting healthy cells from fetuses. For the foreseeable future, extracting and culturing stem cells will be more of an art than an established technology. The amount of material that can be derived this way is limited even under the best circumstances.  Results from several studies indicate that about 60% of all spontaneous abortions arise as a result of specific fetal anomalies; specific chromosomal abnormalities were identified in about 20% of those. While stem cells with damaged genetic complements may be useful for a limited number of experiments, they are unlikely to be the basis of experiments leading to useful “normal” tissue. Finally, there is the matter of timing. EG cells can only be obtained during a narrow developmental phase, within the first eight weeks after conception. Most spontaneous abortions that occur during this period do not take place in a hospital or clinic where the tissue can be readily obtained."
counterbalance.org
Which leaves the question that pro-adult stem cell articles never seem to get around to. Where do stem cells for non-autologous treatments come from? The answer seems to be aborted fetuses.
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