“He looks just like his dad”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the world’s first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy, Geron Corp has said in a milestone for such research and a marked political shift. The move came three days after the inauguration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat who had been expected to rescind some of the federal funding restrictions placed on such research.

The California biotechnology company plans to initiate a clinical trial in patients with acute spinal cord injury.

“This marks the beginning of what is potentially a new chapter in medical therapeutics – one that reaches beyond pills to a new level of healing: the restoration of organ and tissue function achieved by the injection of healthy replacement cells,” Geron Chief Executive Thomas B. Okarma said in a statement…

Stem cells are the body’s master cells, giving rise to all the tissues, organs and blood. Embryonic stem cells are considered the most powerful kinds of stem cells, as they have the potential to give rise to any type of tissue…

“The neurosurgical community is very excited by this new approach to treating devastating spinal cord injury,” said Richard Fessler, professor of neurological surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

“If safe and effective, the therapy would provide a viable treatment option for thousands of patients who suffer severe spinal cord injuries each year,” he said in a statement.

Congratulations to the FDA for standing up on their hind legs – now that everyone’s job is safe while doing so.




  1. MPL says:

    Foreign abortions and stem cell research financing – perfect smoke screen to divert attention from real problems that government actually should be looking at. I’m just going to mention broken and corrupt financial system….

  2. this should have been done years ago

  3. Improbus says:

    Another Bush era policy gets a stake through its heart. Yay!

  4. jopie says:

    Yay! indeed!
    I foresee major medical breakthoughs in the coming years wich could have been here allmost 8 years ago thanks to the Busshole.

  5. Paddy-O says:

    # 4 jopie said, “Yay! indeed!
    I foresee major medical breakthoughs in the coming years wich could have been here allmost 8 years ago thanks to the Busshole.”

    I doubt it. The US lost it lead in ’96 while Clinton was Pres. (Dolly). The rest of the world has been free to do this. No major breakthroughs…

    You should think before posting…

  6. highaman says:

    – “the world’s first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy” very funny! Way to hide US is at least 5 years behind other countries in embryoninc stem cells.

    Come on the world isn’t limited to 51 stars…

  7. Dallas says:

    Def: Renaissance
    1. A rebirth or revival.
    – A revival of intellectual or artistic achievement and vigor: the Celtic Renaissance.
    – The period of such a revival.

    adj. Renaissance
    1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Renaissance or its artistic and intellectual works and styles.
    2. Of, relating to, or characteristic of dumping the Republican Party.
    3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of an Obama generation of leadership

  8. Ah_Yea says:

    This is just good news. Late, not late, whatever. At least we can get going!

  9. Angel H. Wong says:

    #5 Paddy

    Another one blaming Clinton. The Republicans had ANOTHER 8 YEARS to repair the “damage” done by the Clinton administration. Instead they burned the money in Iraq based on a WMD lie.

  10. Paddy-O says:

    # 9 Angel H. Wong said, “Another one blaming Clinton.”

    Take your meds. No one is blaming Clinton. The point is that the scientific breakthroughs or lack thereof have nothing to do with either administration.

    Get it?

  11. Sea Lawyer says:

    More people living even longer should be a boon for reversing the effects of human activities on the environment. Obama better start pumping some of this free money into space colonization soon.

  12. Angel H. Wong says:

    #10 Paddy

    “No one is blaming Clinton.”

    Funny thing that the Republicans are blaming him for the 8 years of failure they had.

  13. Paddy-O says:

    # 12 Angel H. Wong said, “Funny thing that the Republicans are blaming him for the 8 years of failure they had.”

    I guess. You’d have to ask a republican though.

    BTW, please detail how you were denied your 1st Amend rights…

  14. orangetiki says:

    huzzah. I feel smarter already.

  15. Flower Stems & Mindless Cells says:

    Venture capital dried up on stem cell research many years ago because it FAILED and kept failing. They sold it to the taxpayer. Now you get to pick up the tab for what will end up being bogus claims at some point that “stem cell treatment helped heal” when the body actually healed itself. They will buzz the news about how great the stem cell research program is. The world will cheer, keep blaming Bush, and billions will be spent to “save 10 lives” while 542 million people starve to death and get sick from many illnesses due to lack of clean water.

  16. The headline is incomplete:

    “FDA allows first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy using tax dollars.

    The fact is that there has never been a ban on embryonic stem cell technology – only ban on using tax dollars.

    So why didn’t private bio-tech pursue embryonic stem cell treatments without Uncle ‘pork trough’ Sam footing the bill?? Because for 20 years embryonic stem cell technology has yielded zero, zip, nada, nyet, ~not one single successful procedure for treatment.

    One the other hand, adult stem cell research has already produce a half a dozen viable treatments.

    But there’s no big gub’mint dollars in that science. So now you, Mr. & Ms. tax payer, can pay for what big multi-billion dollar bio-tech companies don’t want to invest in.

    Feel like a sucker, yet??

  17. amodedoma says:

    Awwww, too late to save Superman! Granted embrionic stem cell hasn’t produced much, but investigation is good even when it fails. Fewer irrational impediments to genetic research might go a long way in finding the answers.

  18. Paddy-O says:

    # 17 amodedoma said, “Fewer irrational impediments to genetic research might go a long way in finding the answers.”

    There were no impediments other than using money out of my wallet without my permission. Anyone, if they were concerned, could have donated as much $ as they wanted towards research in this area. Maybe invest in a biotech company?

  19. MikeN says:

    Don’t let facts get in the way. Liberals love abortion, and anything that upsets prolifers and social conservatives is OK with them. Big business figured this out and has been playing them for fools ever since. They now have liberals jumping to pass vaccine mandates and anything else they can think of.

  20. Glidedon says:

    Come on Dvorak what a false headline.

    Another misnomer perpetuated.

  21. Pat M says:

    #19, Lyin’ Mike,

    Liberals love abortion,

    No. I don’t know anyone that “loves” abortion. Every “Liberal” I know hates it. The same with cancer. I don’t know any “Liberals” that love cancer. Or plugged heart arteries. Or Multiple Sclerosis. Or sinusitis. Or gout. Or Parkinson’s. Or Alzheimer’s.

    I, and most liberals, recognize that they are all private decisions between my medical practitioner(s) and myself.

    and anything that upsets prolifers and social conservatives is OK with them

    OK, so tweaking their noses is fun. They have asked to be disliked. They won’t allow me to interfere or have any voice in their medical decisions, why should we allow them to interfere in our medical decisions?

    But “prolifers”? The biggest group of hypocrites I can imagine. Call them what they are, anti-freedom advocates.

    They now have liberals jumping to pass vaccine mandates and anything else they can think of.

    Almost every physician, including the “conservative” physicians, are in favor of vaccines. If you wish to not contribute to bettering our society, please move. The majority want to make this a better country.

    There is lots of free land still available in the Antarctic.

  22. MikeN says:

    I think it is ideological. The companies play up those aspects to get the Democrats to jump. It’s not too different from how utilities and others would use ‘privatization’ to get Republicans to hand them money.

  23. Paddy-O says:

    # 23 MikeN said, “I think it is ideological. The companies play up those aspects to get the Democrats to jump.”

    If you are talking about the mindless Neolibs walking the streets, you’re right.

    I’ve met (and bought) a lot of the ones on the Hill. They are amoral and only want $. If it something like this, that they can con their constituency about, all the better.

  24. Mister Mustard says:

    #5 – Paddy-RAMBO

    >>The US lost it lead in ‘96 while Clinton
    >>was Pres. (Dolly).

    How did Clinton have anything to do with Dolly? Dolly was born in Scotland. Not all discoveries are made in the US, you know, even without presidents lobbying full-force against scientific research like Dumbya.

    It wasn’t until Bush, and his “moral” opposition to stem cell research, that we firmly planted our asses in the back seat of the science bus.

  25. Mister Mustard says:

    #24 – Paddy-ABRAMOFF

    >>I’ve met (and bought) a lot of the ones on the Hill.

    Woo! Paddy-ABRAMOFF, the Poobah of K Street! Buying and selling influence on “the Hill”.

    Man, you are one high-rolling International Man of Mystery, aren’t you?

    You’ve come a long way from rearranging desk ornaments for Condi. And an even longer way from fetching AAA batteries for customers at the ‘Shack.

    Paddy-ABRAMOFF. The Sage of the Beltway.


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