Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Neck News

I just saw an article today in the San Jose Mercury News about Geron's spinal chord medicine for people with severe spinal chord trauma. Evidently it is a gene therapy or stem cell derived medicine. They had to put on hold the release of the medicine but it doesn't say why. I'm attaching the final paragraph from the article because it explains roughly what I'm being tested for this week.
Posted: 08/18/2009 11:20:22 AM PDT
Updated: 08/18/2009 11:20:23 AM PDT

sjohnson@mercurynews.com

In a setback for Menlo Park-based Geron, the company announced today that federal authorities have placed on hold its ground-breaking test in people of a spinal-cord injury treatment it developed from human embryonic stem cells.

When a spine is damaged, myelin — a fatty substance that provides insulation important for motor function — often is stripped off. That can disrupt the body's ability to transmit sensory signals, similar to the way an electrical cord shorts out when its insulation is peeled away, resulting in paralysis. Geron coaxed embryonic cells into becoming oligodendrocytes, cells that help nerve fibers replace myelin.

the john
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