January 25th, 2009 by Keith Kleiner
We just uncovered this awesome 3 minute video of Geron CEO Thomas Okarma explaining the promise of stem cell therapy as well as the damage that has been done by the Bush administration over the last 8 years. Just a few days ago we posted that Geron has won approval for the first ever FDA clinical trial of stem cell therapy. Here are some choice quotes from the video:
“Geron has spent as much money on stem cell research as the entire NIH over the last 10 years”
“In the future, when you have heart attack, you instead of coming home with a damaged heart, you will come home with a heart that has been repaired with new heart cells”
Tags: bush, geron, stem cells
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The thing that constantly kills me about stories like these is that we here in the US stupidly believe that research has stopped because of the Bush Administration (and other conservative forces). That is just not true.
The entire world has moved on with this type of research and hundreds of patents have been filed in this area. A lot of good research has been done recently in Japan, China, Korea, and other areas.
Hopefully the US is still in a position to be competitive.
[...] actually ready for trial in 2005, and CEO Thomas Okarma has stated in a video that a lot of efforts have been stopped over the years. But that’s only in the U.S. — many patents have already been issued for use of stem [...]
[...] of the importance of stem cells in the past few years. Embryonic stem cells were once the center of research and the focal point for political controversy. ESC research is still likely to yield some amazing science in the next few years. However, [...]
For those not familiar with the issues heres a good interview.
http://tinyurl.com/ya5wwrw
QUESTION: Do you have pet peeves regarding how the public perceives stem cell research?
ANSWER: I have a few.
The first is the myth that human embryonic stem cells come from aborted fetuses. This is nonsense. It’s just not true. These stem cells come from frozen blastocysts (a very early embryo consisting of 150-300 cells) not used in in-vitro fertilization procedures. These cells are going to be discarded, no matter what. End of story. There’s no abortion involved.
Second, people sometimes think stem cell research is just one thing. In fact, the research covers lots of different kinds of stem cells with different properties related to different diseases. No one kind of stem cell can substitute for another. What makes ESCs so special is they can make many kinds of stem cells that we can’t otherwise get in reasonable qualities.
Third, there’s the oft-repeated myth that adult stem cells can do everything. This is completely undocumented and misleading. People have to remember that a collection of press releases doesn’t establish a fact. Just because one or two scientists think something may be true doesn’t necessarily define it as an independently reproducible, consistent, useful finding that forms a correct foundation.
Fourth and most dangerous are the pronouncements by some people that adult stem cells can cure any disease. This has resulted in a proliferation of clinics across the border and around the world that will, for a price, offer unproven therapies. People go to them for help without enough information necessarily to know what they’re getting. These clinics are unregulated. There’s no accountability to make sure they tell the truth. The treatments are so hyped that people are putting their lives at risk. We’re seeing cases of people who have gone to these clinics and come back with real damage.