I just found this story on the CBS News site along with the video--great stroy and all hope
On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 7:54 PM, James Berg <molokai...@gmail.com> wrote: > CBS NEWS TONiTE--Johnson Center has injected the first human with embrionic > stem cells to repair the myelin sheath--with FDA APPROVAL--the initial > testing is for newly injured subjects (7-14 days)and it is expected that > results will show within two months. The Dr is highly optimistic. A second > type of stem cell will be used for patients that have had the condition for > months and even years. I have this recoded on my DVR==contact is John > Center.com > > > On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 12:31 PM, Akua <a...@artfarm.com> wrote: > >> >> >> http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/11/first-human-injected-in-human-embryonic-stem-cell-trial/?hpt=T2 >> >> First human injected in human embryonic stem cell trial >> >> "After years of animal trials, the first human has been injected with >> cells from human embryonic stem cells, according to Geron Corporation, the >> company which is sponsoring the controversial study. >> >> "This is the first human embryonic stem cell trial in the world," Geron >> CEO Dr. Thomas Okarma tells CNN. >> >> Geron is releasing very few details about the patient, but will say that >> the first person to receive cells derived from human embryonic stem cells >> was enrolled in the FDA-approved clinical trial at the Shepherd Center, a >> spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. >> This person was injected with the cells on Friday. >> >> The FDA first approved this clinical trial in January 2009, but later >> required further research before the study could proceed. The FDA gave final >> approval in July of this year. This allowed the company to begin searching >> for the first patients who might qualify for this phase 1 clinical trial, >> which means scientists are trying to determine the safety of introducing >> these cells into a human. >> >> To be eligible, patients have to have suffered what's called a complete >> thoracic spinal cord injury, which means no movement below the chest. While >> patients can still move their arms and breathe on their own, they are >> complete paraplegics; they have no bowel or bladder control and can't move >> their legs, Okarma explains. >> >> The injury to the spinal cord would have to have occurred between the >> third and tenth thoracic vertebrae and the patient has to be injected with >> the stem cell therapy, called GRNOPC1, within seven to 14 days after the >> injury. "At the time of the injection, they [the cells] are programmed to >> make a new spinal cord - they insulate the damage [to the spinal cord]," >> says Okarma. The cells work just like they would if they were in the womb >> and building a spine in a fetus, Okarma explains. >> >> Embryonic stem cells are only four to five days old and have the ability >> to turn into any cell in the body. But the cells that the patient receives >> aren't pure human embryonic stem cells anymore. The cells in the GRNOPC1 >> therapy have been coaxed into becoming early myelinated glial cells, a type >> of cell that insulates nerve cells. >> >> "For every cell we inject, they become six to 10 cells in a few months," >> says Okarma. These cells can still divide some but will not become any type >> of cell other than glial cells, he explains. >> >> The Geron CEO likens what these cells are doing to repairing a large >> electrical cable. If the outer layer is damaged and the wire is exposed, it >> causes a short-circuit and the cable doesn't work anymore. In the case of a >> spinal cord injury, these new stem-cell derived glial cells creep in between >> all the fibers and rewrap the nerve with myelin, which is like patching the >> cable. The goal is to permanently repair the damage that caused the >> paralysis from the spinal cord injury. >> >> "We're not treating symptoms here - we're permanently regenerating >> tissue," says Okarma. >> >> He adds that the goal of this stem cell therapy is to shift the outcome >> for someone who has just suffered a serious spinal cord injury, and go from >> a place where there's no hope for improvement to a situation where they can >> respond to physical therapy. "If we could do that, this would be a >> spectacular result," Okarma says." >> >> >> MORE at site >> -- >> >> >
